Dr. Creepen's Dungeon - S5 Ep236: Episode 236: Forest Cabin Horror Stories

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

Tonight’s opening epic tale of horror is parts one, two and three of the wonderful ‘The Forest Experiment’, an original work by the brilliant Mr. Mills 45, kindly shared with me for the express purpose of having me narrate it here for you all.  https://www.reddit.com/user/mrmills45/ Tonight’s fabulous closing story is 'A Cabin vs A Killer from the Stars' by the wonderfully talented James Caligo, kindly shared with me via my subreddit for the express purpose of having me narrate it here for you all: https://www.reddit.com/user/JamesCaligo/ https://www.reddit.com/r/DrCreepensVault/comments/s29qbn/a_cabin_vs_a_killer_from_the_stars/

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Welcome to Dr. Creepin's Dungeon. Poir's cabins are creepy because they isolate you from the rest of the world. Surrounded by endless trees, far from help, and swallowed by silence broken only by strange distant sounds. The darkness seems thicker, the shadows deeper, and every creek of the floorboards or rustle outside the window feels like a threat. There's a primal unease that comes from being in a place where nature feels untamed, and the line between solitude and vulnerability begins to blur. As we shall see in tonight's two epic stories.

As ever before we begin a word of caution, tonight's tales may contain strong language as well as descriptions of violence and horrific imagery. That sounds like your kind of thing. Then let's begin. The Forest Experiment. Part 1. Site 12. March 14th, 2008. I marched like a disgruntled drill sergeant

through the sterilized hallways of the facility. My fists clenched and teeth gritted. For once, there are actually some wrinkles in my suit as I hastily make my way to find the Ice Queen herself, Dr. Athena L. West. The science wing was definitely the most complex part of the building to navigate, but I managed. Although the higher-ups in the agency would be disappointed to know if the guy they promoted to the Director of Operations still didn't know his way around a wing of a facility, well, I find the door to the room I'm looking for.

two guards stand on each side dressed in black. Assault rifles held tight as they suddenly look at me with obedient hesitation. Good morning, sir. The one on the left greets me with a nod, clearly faking his enthusiasm for seeing me. But they all did. A bunch of ungrateful fools they were. Good morning, Mr. Wowser. Credentials. The guard on the right follows up, holding out a hand as if to invite me to put something in it. Why do I have to present my credentials all of a sudden? I blurt out.

My short fuse now coming to the forefront. The two guards flinching slightly despite my lack of any firearms or weapons. Both of them share a glance of confusion before returning their attention to me. The one on the left staring rudely with wide eyes. It's part of the new protocol policy, sir. The one you signed off on. "'Whatever. "'It's a hell with both of you,' I snobling out my identification and credentials card

and holding it up in front of me with a strained look of frustration, giving the impression that I was seconds away from pouncing on both of them. "'Tad Bowser, director of operations, property of the agency.' "'Okay, sir, thank you. "'Sorry for the delay.' "'The guard on the right apologizes before stepping off to the side and allowing me to open the door. My bitterness is palpable as I pass by the two meatheads.

The room on the other side greets me with a marble white finish, no stains, spills or mould anywhere to be found. Computer monitors and L-shaped tables loaded with all sorts of different chemicals and experimental tools surround the inner square of the expats. I keep my way towards the centre of the room, and down at the end stands a more than familiar woman and a lab coat. her blonde hair done in a neat ponytail as she continues to keep her eyes focused forward not even turning around despite my lack of graceful silence when entering but it makes sense she was too caught up in another one of her experiments but this one was beyond extraordinary as she put it calling herself its mother and whatnot it was fucking weird thing just sat there in a tank right in front of her floating in a

a light green liquid with all sorts of wires connected to its body and engraving at the bottom of the outside of the tank reads subject 16a dr west's freakishly prized possession well to me it was nothing more than a waste of precious budget dollars your guys dropped the new recruiter the location west informs me once again still not giving me the time of day when it came to body language oh he's a only a recruit if he survives the trial i reply with a no-nonsense tone don't get ahead of yourself west oh she then turns this finally being the thing that gets her to enter eye contact with me but her expression wasn't one of anger no it was more or less mild irritation an emotion the both of us felt quite often around here let's not forget this was all your idiotic idea

she barks we waste all this money time and our classified information recruiting new agents we could just use him more often west bellots punctuating by pointing at the tank holding 16a inside of it we use him plenty enough i shoot back and every single cryptid is worth the resources we have to use to feed this son of a bitch whatever she complains crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes turning her back to her back me in order to continue looking at the tank when you can turn those experimentation b files into me i need them in this system soon so we can move forward with implementing our new record-keeping system it's already done so go ahead and take a look or do whatever needs to be done to get yourself far away from me west snots have thirst for control over the conversation rivaling mine one day someone's going to slice that bitchy little smirk right off your face. I retort, before heading to the door, picking up the pace to get out of there as fast as possible.

But it was obvious that West was still dead set on getting the last word. And one day you're going to regret being so much of an arrogant child as you are. Your head's far too big for your neck. Find that rich coming from you, I fire back, with a final statement before throwing my hand on the knob, almost tearing the door right off its hinges. but I don't yell, scream or lose my cool. Not in the traditional sense anyway.

I simply begin my walk down the hallway back to my office. Multiple agents passing by as they continue to do their sweeps of the building. Good morning, sir. One of them greets cheerfully, taking a hand off his weapon to signal me a wave. Oh, fuck, oh. The forests of Wyoming, March 15th, 2008. Camping. and activity that lots of people love and enjoy more than anything oh the soothing isolation from the hustle and bustle of civilization the smores bullshitting over a campfire once you get past the insects and occasional rain things aren't so bad unless you run into a bear or mountain lion

well that is until it happens to you involuntarily it's nothing that gets your adrenaline flowing and mind racing like waking up in the middle of a campsite with no memories or record collection of events leading up to the strange and rather terrifying circumstance. I do a typical thing, slap myself several times over just to make sure I'm not having some vivid nightmare. But no matter how many times I strike my cheeks and leave behind a stinging sensation, nothing changes. Not my surroundings, my environment or consciousness. I really am trapped out here in the middle of the woods all alone. Let's just say it's not an easy reality to accept. I stand up and try and get my bearings.

I can only see pine trees in every direction I glance, further cementing the fact that I'm truly isolated. But it wasn't all completely hopeless. After doing a 90-degree shift to my body, I find a tent with what looks to be a box of some supplies next to it. A complete, an utter godsend. Or so I thought. The little discovery led me to the conclusion that someone had done this to me.

No extreme sleepwalking or anything of the sort, no. I was kidnapped, drugged and taken here. But why? What for? And most importantly, what did they need with me specifically? I wasn't anything special, just a bartender, not very tall, well built or experienced in many fields other than making drinks and bullshitting with patrons. Regardless, I had more important matters to worry about at the time, so I marched my way over to the tent. listening for any sounds beside the birds chirping while I wiped away the last of my eye-boogies. Not that I was actually tired or anything close to it.

I kneeled down once reaching the box, placing my hands on either side and pulling the top flaps open, half expecting there to be a raccoon inside, feasting on whatever little crumbs you could get its claws on. But no. Instead, I am shocked beyond expectation when I lay my eyes upon a fresh loaf of bread, two bottles of water, a shotgun with a bag of shells, as well as a suspicious camcorder, along with a backpack on the side which I assumed was for the purpose of holding all these items, meaning this probably wouldn't be my permanent spots, but it was a good thing. I was planning on getting the hell out of here anyway, and this was the only thing holding me back. I inspect the loaf of bread, finding out the barcode on its plastic wrapping is covered in some sort of strange,

crudely taped on piece of paper with a string of six numbers written on it in purple pen. 892-506. Part of me wondered if the bread or water was even safe to consume in the first place. But after shrugging the numbers off as a clueless nonsense and putting it in the backpack, I immediately grabbed the shotgun to check if it was loaded. I'd shot firearms a few times in the past just for practice of my uncle, but I am, well, the furthest thing from a gun expert, I did make sure to have a look at the safety as well.

I was always told the phrase, and have a point of gun as someone you don't intend to kill, as a kid. I did what I considered the most logical thing and assume this forest was in my home state of Wyoming, which meant there was a good chance that I could run into either a black or grizzly bear. Neither of which sounded exactly pleasant, but I'll take the black over the grizzly any day. Well, of course, this generous offering of supply still doesn't get rid of the fact that I was not only horrified at my current situation, but hungry for answers.

Answers I knew I would only get if I made it out of here alive. So I packed everything up as fast as possible, finished loading the shotgun, and set off. But only once I moved further into the trees does the eerieness truly begin to set in. Well, people will always go on and on about how creepy forests are at night. but to me they're almost as unsettling in the day but at least you can actually see more than a few feet in front of you I guess like I said camping and activities such as that are fun

but you can't tell me you've never once had a little jumpy while walking through the woods alone if you're brave enough to even do it in the first place that is I keep my grip around the weapon tight looking through the unchanging tree liners any sense of security left began to fade away leaving me with nothing but the sound of branches crunching beneath my feet as I tried to keep my head narrow I wanted to find some sort of shelter a cabin a shack hell I'd even take an outhouse over just a tent

a tent isn't going to defend you very well once a bear realizes you're inside it or some psychopath with a knife but maybe they'd flee once they got a whiff of the inside I hiked and hiked for what was at least a few hours and found absolutely nothing. No change in scenery, no structures, no clearings or openings in the trees. Nothing that gave me any sign that I was actually progressing. Just more of the same.

But I stop. I'm not wanting to waste all my energy on this pointless journey to nowhere. Deciding to sit down and rest my back against a girthy tree, however, I wasn't going to let this time of rest be completely unproductive. I take my backpack off and swing it around,

reaching into the large flap and grabbing the strange-looking camcorder and turning it on to look through its potential contents. I go to the previously saved recordings. God, the thing is a pain in the ass to navigate, so it takes me a few minutes to get through all the settings and such that I didn't understand. More than likely due to the fact it seemed to be a recent model, no older than a year. But once I'm in the previously saved recordings,

there's four videos. two at the top and two at the bottom of the screen. I try clicking on the video located in the bottom right-hand corner, but it doesn't play. Neither does the one directly to the left of it or above it. So I move over to what should have been the first video, the one in the upper left-hand corner, immediately hitting play as soon as the border of it is highlighted.

It takes a few seconds to load, a screen eerily blinking a few times before the contents of the video finally begin to play. I instantly recognize the setting in both the thumbnail and the first several frames of the video. It's a view of the campsite where I'd awoken. In the bottom left-hand corner of the video, the date is stamped in bright white letters. June 16, 2008, 5.52 p.m. Whoever is operating the camera is still standing around 15 yards away from the actual tent and supply box.

but the person recording has clearly done this many times before the camera is held extremely steadily and with purpose very little shaking or swaying is present as it focus it in on the centre of its shot me there i am i am flat on the ground like a clueless moron as i slumber not yet awake and realizing my horrifying predicament behind the camera i hear faint breathing begin to pick up as the shot is centered and zoomed in on my umed unconscious figure. It's almost like the cameraman is excited, thrilled in some sick, sadistic sort of way. It grows deeper, a bit of a rast to its nasally tone. Definitely a man or a woman trying to disguise herself as such and doing a pretty good job. But all that didn't matter. I thought being out here stranded completely alone was stomach churning enough, but now I was absolutely sure that someone was stalking me, watching me, and playing a twisted mind game. Well, the gun made me feel more comfortable, but it was obvious to me that the person recording me sleeping was probably the same person who brought me out here and also gave me the

surprise, which means there was a good chance they had a weapon as well. I try watching the second clip that was saved, but the thing refuses to let me open it. Whoever this was, had to be extremely tech-savvy. enough to tamper with a camcorder in this fashion. I hadn't ever heard of certain recordings being locked on some sort of arbitrary invisible timer on a somewhat recent model like this. Maybe I was just ignorant. While I wasn't inept, I was never really known for being a computer whiz.

But, just as I'm about to close the camcorder up and put it back where it came from, I hear an alarming noise from behind, causing me to quickly grab a hold of the shotgun and cock it. ready for a fight to appear at any second. A rustling continues to make itself known in the trees. I can't help but point the barrel upwards. My finger grazing the trigger as I try to find the source of the sound.

My heartbeat rising with every passing moment. It all goes silent once again. No birds or animals of any kind. I start to turn my head 90 degrees. My instincts telling me that whatever originally created that noise wasn't in the same spot any longer. I then turned my head in a 180, the silence only furthering my unease and mild adrenaline rush.

At this point, I would have rather had whatever it was just jump out and come after me, but no, who or what it is is taking its time. He wants me to be scared, to let my guard down and panic. I mentally demanded myself to just stay calm and keep my hands steady on my weapon. taking a few steps back without looking behind me, causing me to tumble over a branch and fall onto my back.

A crash against the ground, the shotgun falling over to the side as I groan. A few pine cones lay underneath me and painfully collide with my back as I impacted the dirt below. But the sharp little sting of the cones pressing against my back was nothing in comparison to what came next. Rustling in the trees picked up once more, this time for a much lengthier period. of them before several seconds at the bare minimum prompting me to quickly turn over and grab the shotgun once again in my panic i'm able to pinpoint the exact tree where the rustling is coming from watching as the upper branches and pine needles move in unison but no creature or being emerges from the top not a living one anyway a human corpse suddenly comes crashing down smashing through a couple of the

smaller branches below on its way down. This, of course, only creates scratches and small flesh wounds on its sickly pale skin, on the body, with next to no blood barely running from the broken skin. The corpse impacts the ground face first, only a few yards away from it. I don't step forward, or not at first. Instead, I keep my weapon trained on it, as if it was going to suddenly reanimate, and try to rip out my jugular with its teeth. Let's just say I'd watch one too many movies in my time.

I'd start checking my surroundings, imagining Mother Nature just letting bodies start to rain down from the trees. It's not every day one just dropped right in front of you. But considering everything else that had so far occurred, I guess it was a bit foolish to expect any sense of normality. And although I used this term lightly, I did eventually grow somewhat comfortable enough to approach the body. Although I still didn't have both a million questions,

and emotions running through my head. I inched my way closer to the corpse, careful not to snap any loose branches or twigs as I close the distance. Perhaps I wasn't the only thing that had heard this thing fall. Of course my mind is coming up with every single terrible scenario that it could dream up, be it possible or not.

But none of that comes to fruition. The corpse just continues to lay there, slowly rotting away and once again becoming a part of the environment. Once I get about a foot away, I lean down slightly, kicking the corks with my left foot and keeping a cautious expression strong across my face. And it turns out I had perhaps spoken too soon. The body suddenly began to thrash from side to side, as if something was inside trying to force its way out in a desperate attempt for survival.

I moved back and fire a shell into the back of the body, the kick making me fumble a bit but not completely fall over like a clutz. My right ear ringing just a bit from the raw decibel. that this thing had produced. But none of it mattered. The corpse still continued to animalistically throw itself and tilt every which way. This is despite the fact that I'd blown a sizable hole in its back.

It soon became clear as to why the gunshot did nothing to stop the strange convulsions because I'd hit the wrong spot. Without warning, the back of the head bursts open like a gaw-filled water balloon, blood and spongy brain matters spilling on the side of the face and around the head. The ground underneath, becoming soaked in all sorts of horrendous bodily fluids that no man

should ever have to witness. But, well, it didn't end there. From the fleshy hole emerges as a familiar yet completely alien-looking entity, something you'd find in a sci-fi movie. It's about the size of an average adult man's hand, possessing the abdomen and body structure of a black widow spider,

but with a number of legs more in line with that of a damn millipede. Its skin was a glossy grey, giving it an almost metallic appearance. Although there was still a sizable bit of blood covering its surface area due to where it had violently just emerged from. No eyes could be seen or discerned. But it's not like I was specifically searching for them at that time. No, I was far too busy frying the bigger fish of how the hell this thing could have torn through a human skull as if it were wet toilet paper.

The creature sits in its gooey mess of gore, slowly using its hundreds of gross. retest legs to turn and do what I assume was glaring at me with a ferocious malice. It's out as simultaneously barely but painfully perceptible, high-pitched screech, almost as if a dog whistle was lodged in its throats. The creature effortlessly producing this horrific sound, which was much louder than it had any right to be. Its legs twitch and slowly point upwards towards the sky in a sickening unison before dropping back down and piercing the remaining flesh of the scalp it was perched upon. It's quickly becoming clear to me that this thing would soon lunge its way over in my direction

with its horrifying exoskeleton. I cock the shotgun once again before firing, bracing myself harder and mentally preparing myself for the deafening sound. I then put my finger back on the trigger and pull, obliterating the creature and finding it not to produce any blood despite it being completely blown apart with a direct hit. I wasn't a person who was scared of bu. not too much but that thing unlocked some sort of primal fear lodged deep within me every

single alarm in my body and brain going off the longer that I'd looked at it but I could only be glad that it was gone now if only I knew how little time that euphoria would actually last that still didn't answer the question of what it really was or where it had come from I took a little bit of time to cool down and try and regain my footing on a psychological level. Doing a quick sweep of everything around me, seeing it was practically confirmed I was being watched at this point.

It was only a matter of time when I'd have an encounter with this psychopath, rather than if I would. Luckily, or unluckily, depending on your perspective, I couldn't see anything. Nonetheless, leaning down and inspecting what was left of the dead body,

flipped it over to see the face, ignoring the criticised hole, stealing the back of the head. I look over the features, studying them a bit before coming to the conclusion I didn't recognise this man at all. But whoever this was, they were in some sort of business suit. Well, it was torn up and embedded into the skin here and there, but enough was intact for me to realise what it was.

Strange. I thought at first this guy could have been another victim of the same guy that put me here, and there was a chance of that still being the case. But it still didn't explain the mutant-looking millipede. exploding out of his skull. There was a good chance he was still alive when it decided to crawl up inside him. But I didn't have time to sit around and mourn a man I had no conation to. I had to get going. There was plenty of daylight left and I intended to use every second of it. And if there was one positive aspect I could grab from all this, it's the fact that I didn't have to explore these

woods at night, all alone in a perpetual feeling of darkness. Although if I didn't find Shelter soon, that would inevitably become the grim reality. So once my backpack was strapped and I had the shotgun held in my left hand, I poured out the camcorder to check if the second video had been unlocked. Well, I guess unlocked would be the correct term. And to both my surprise and dread, it was. The frame depicts what I can only assume is a pond somewhere in this dense hellhole of a forest, a murky swamp-like body of water almost covered by the tall weeds of grass surrounding it,

all sorts of natural filth and overgrowth floating along its barely visible surface. I keep walking forward as I hit play on the video, my eyes focused intensely on whatever was to come next. A camera sat still, no movement whatsoever, even after picking up a blood-curdling sound coming from the right, just outside of the frame. The audio quality was far from great, but it was good enough for me to discern it was a scream of a woman. A truly terrified lady who sounded like she was seconds away from being brutally slaughtered. Not that I could actually see her in the video itself. Only her pleas for mercy and screams of horror made her presence apparent.

The camera suddenly zooms in on the pond, but only slightly, allowing the field of view from the previous shot to still be mostly intact. The water in the pond suddenly begins to ripple, the fallen grass floating along its murky surface moving in unison with the small waves. I squint my eyes, the lighting of the video indicating it was being filmed somewhere around the late evening hours of the day. I watched as the waves created by the ripples began to grow bigger, now splashing up against the dry land slope leading down into the water. and in only a matter of seconds the source of the aquatic movement makes itself known a group or rather an army of those mutant millipede creatures emerges from the water all of them crawling up the land slope in a sickening military-esque formation their legs all practically synced up together i estimated on the spot that there had to be at least forty or so of these things the herd travels about a dozen feet away from the edge of the edge of the edge of the head travels about a dozen feet away from the edge of the edge of the the pond before suddenly halting. A lot of them turning to focus their attention on the lady's screaming out of frame, whoever she was. Once they're apparently looking in her direction, they raise their legs and point them into the air. The creatures letting out their recognisably

painful high-pitched screeches in unison. Even the audio in the video is loud enough to make the camcorer itself vibrate right in my hands. The one's house only grow more potent as their legs come back down to ground and they begin to crawl towards a rocker. off-screen. I found myself deeply disgusted at my own morbid curiosity to finish the clip, but part of it is due to the fact I could potentially find more useful information about the creatures in here, especially now that it was confirmed I'd probably be dealing with way more than one in the future. The woman's futile cries, for some sort of divine intervention, cut short by what I can only describe as one of the creatures attempting to crawl its way into

her mouth. The sound of her throat being viciously clogged by its mass, as it forces its way deeper into a esophagus. Of course, well, I couldn't actually see any of this, but fear of the unknown and the unseen is a powerful thing. As to what the creatures did once they were inside a human body was still a mystery. I was only, unfortunately, aware of what had been so far displayed in front of me. The camera began to shake vigorously,

but the scenery didn't change. It still focused on the pond with that haunting, muffled, choking screams of the woman irons. throughout the area she dies her slow agonizing death at the hands of these many-legged demons but why not help her i mean what sort of fucked-up psychopath would just let this happen much less documented as it happened perhaps whoever this was had some sort of connection to those things luckily the horrific clip ended after only a few more seconds of shaking i was left there to contemplate the added gravity to the situation. In those things, someone had put them here. Very least someone is feeding people to

these things. But why? It might also give me tools to fight them off if that's the case. While all of this was still to be discovered, I did connect the dots that the woman in the video must have been tied up or restrained. These things didn't seem very hard to outrun in a straight sprint. I doubt they could even catch a mouse. Was this some sort of sick game? Was I nothing more than a test subject or lab rats? What's the woman in the video supposed to be an example of one of the potential fates that I could meet in this whole ordeal? Just to be better safe than sorry, I tried to watch the third video, only for it to not allow me to do so,

prompting me to put the camcorder back into my backpack and turn to head off into the trees to continue my quest of finding something resembling secure shelter? But, well, if I was being honest, unless I stumbled upon a nuclear-proof bunker, nothing was going to make me feel safe out in these woods. I'd definitely be sleeping with one eye open, assuming I was even able to fall asleep in the first place. While I was on the move, I did end up noticing a slight dip or decline in the ground several yards in front of me. Trees grown at all sorts of odd angles, one of which must have had some sort of seriously intense fungus or disease as the bottom five or so feet were covered in these nasty looking spore plants a mucous green with these dark red rims on the edges to the openings of course i don't dare touch them god knows what kind

of zombie apocalypse would begin if i did but i can't help but study them squinting my eyes to see what might be inside the spores themselves but all i could make out is a lifeless void-like black they secrete a sort of white puss similar to what comes out when you pop a pimple. It wasn't a whole lot, but enough to spill over the edge of the spore rim and drop onto the ground, a bit of it pooling up at the base of the tree. I backed up as it came within inches of touching my shoe. It doesn't help the fact that I nearly gagged from the absolutely putrid smell of the spores.

The scent that I can only describe as a combination of spoiled meat, long-expired milk and mouldy cheese, all of which had been thrown in a trash compacta and then sprayed with, skunk hearing. Oh, Christ, I cried, holding up my free arm and covering my nose, backing up further as I attempted to shut my nostrils airtight. Well, it was putrid to say the least, something that would give manure a run for its money, but it wasn't long before the spores gave me something a lot more important to worry about. I looked down at the small pool of pus, still not far in front of me, squinting as I watched it begin to flow inwards, despite no sort

of incline or decline. The thick, milky substance studied to change its shape into that of a narrow river with a pattern of thin lines sticking out of each side. But after looking closer and coming to an unsettling realization,

it became clear what the past was truly changing into. It began to elongate, growing more and more of those thin lines, except for the fact they weren't just lines, no. They were legs. The legs of those freakish mutant millipedes.

The pus splitting into different liquid bodies and multiplying its base number for the creatures. The pus darkened from its original milky white colour into a metallic grey had known all too well by this point. Its density increasing as well while the details of the creature became more and more apparent. The pores appeared to explode and self-destruct after secreting a certain amount. I cocked the shotgun as its transformation is nearly complete. The feature of the thing were fully formed. after a few more seconds, but this time I didn't give it the chance to make that ear-piercing shriek

or stick its legs into the air. I quickly took aim and pulled the trigger, hopefully blowing the creature back into whatever strange and hellish dimension it came from. But this time it wouldn't be so simple. The remaining spores began to split and secrete out the white pus. A bit of it getting on my shoe this time round, causing me to internally freak out as I tripped and fell straight onto my back like a threatened prey. dropping the shotgun in the process.

I tumbled backwards, multiple somersaults as I groaned and desperately tried to find a branch or an object to hang onto and stop my fall down the steep incline. A rosebush grazing my back and cutting me as if I was a block of cheddar on a cheese grater. My body snapped multiple branches, my back being further scratched and lacerated by assortments of rocks and other debris

while I kicked up any loose dirt or soil in the ground on my way down. The backpack was doing very little to save the highest and lowest points of my back, only the centre had received next to no damage. But the forest seemed to take pity on me as I finally began to slow down, thinking with only a fraction of a second by throwing out my left hand and latching on to a thick tree branch, causing my fall to suddenly stop and send the leftover momentum up into the rest of my body. I slightly swung to the left, nearly hitting my head on the tree in a brutal impact. And after all, it's said and done, and I am wrongfully sure that.

that my clumsy fall down the hill has ended, I looked up, back right at the spot where I'd been standing and observing the tree with the spores, most of which were now destroyed. Well, I expected to see the creatures racing down the hill and coming after me, all of them in a terrifying horde of thousands of little legs scurrying across the dirt as they closed in on me. But no. Instead, at the top of a hill stood a man, dressed in all black gear like some sort of private military soldier. An assault rifle gripped in his hands as he stared down at me through a dark visor of some sort. The only things I could visually make out was his mouth, his chin, and just barely his eyes. His lips curled into a shit-eating grin, clearly amused at my

misfortune. Hey! I shout. Now attempting, failing to raise myself up against my feet after regaining imbalance, still slightly dizzy from the events of my fall. Who the hell are you? What is this? Well, to my surprise, he actually responds. His voice hoarse and low, like what you'd expect a bull to sound like if it were capable of speaking. Someone who's passed, he chuckles, right before putting one foot forward. Stay back, stay the hell away from me, I holler, mustering up as much courage as possible to stand my ground despite the power imbalance. I instinctively reached for the shotgun,

only to remember, left my grasp long ago. It's not me you have to worry about. Not yet, he replied in a slow, moving tone, his grin quickly fading into a more blank expression. But after hearing the familiar sounds with the millipede screeches coming from behind this sketchy soldier,

I looked down near his feet, spotting several on each side of him, lining up as if they were about to start. an Olympic sprint race. They didn't attack him in the slightest. Instead, it looked as if they actually listened to him, like he was commanding them. A walkie-talkie hanging alongside his utility belt

crackled to life with a muffled voice coming from the other end. Well, he quickly picked it up and held it close to his mouth, pressing down the button to respond to this mystery man. This is Agent Ben. The last of the spores of self-destructed. I've got the PR in position. He's incompetent as hell. and he ain't worth our time.

Can I please kill him now? This is getting old. I'm too far away to hear what the man on the other end said, but whatever it was, it couldn't be good for me. But nonetheless, I decided my best option at that moment was to stay put. Because by the look on his face, after the response to his request was made, he'd been told no. Running away seemed like a way to seal the possibility of getting myself shod in the back,

despite what the man in charge had told him. What do you want? me, I demanded. I can do anything to deserve this. Why me? The soldier glared back down at me, seemingly irritated by my endless probing. You've got no family,

nor no miss you. And if you survive, you'll find out. He growled, putting his walkie-talkie back on his belt and turning to walk away. Wait, wait, I plead. Just hold on this. There's got to be some way we can make a deal. An agreement.

A pact, something. are they making you do this we can help each other out no can do the boss wants to see what you got and so far you're not impressing anyone who's the book i began before getting cut short by a bullet whizzing over my head startling me suddenly enough to cause me to let go of the branch i was grasping onto i fell down the short remainder of the hill a few more fresh scrapes and shallow cuts being welcomed onto my back and up My shirt was torn as well, strips of blood staining the torn fabric. It was clear that the guy didn't actually want to hit me. He just wanted to scare me, to startle me and move me somewhere else. From my perspective, he got what he wanted. I wasn't nearly far enough away to justify him missing,

especially with proper training and experience handling a gun like that. I gritted my teeth as I rushed to get back to my feet, because I could hear the millipedes crawling down the hill in my direction. as how many of them there were. Except for this time I didn't have a weapon to defend myself, and I had far too many of them to take on without one. My left hand was stinging, a long paper-cut-like scratch running across it as drops of blood leaked out.

But there was no time for me to tend to it. Instead, I started to run, pumping my legs with every ounce of strength I could muster, sprinting full speed away from the Millipede Army currently on my tail. Even though my previous assumption of their low speed was correct, I still couldn't run forever. And if they had great endurance, then I was in serious trouble. But just to be prepared ahead of time, I quickly grabbed the largest stick I could find while dashing through the tree line. It wouldn't save me, but at least I wouldn't die lying on my back.

My screeches were horrendously ear-shattering behind me. I could hear them growing quieter as time went on, indicating that I was successfully outrunning them, at least for the time, B, the forest experiment. Part 2 There are plenty of new horrors to keep my psyche stimulated. Bodies, several bodies spread out across this new section of the forest. Some in the trees, some sprawled out on the ground and laid up against the trunks. I could only pray and hope that I wouldn't join them.

The majority of the corpses are decayed, a few are even exposing bones, all sorts of plants, insects and maggots eating away at their decomposing flesh. I didn't want to stick around for too long, though, for I knew more of those millipedes were inside them, ready to burst out at a moment's notice. I leapt over fallen branches and ducked under eye-level once, keeping my eyes focused on the path ahead of me, so as not to fall and let those things gain any ground on me. The soldier, or agent or whatever the hell he was, didn't seem interested in chasing me. If he did, I definitely wouldn't have been able to make more than a few steps. But it's not like he really had to, regardless. If these things truly were his minions, puppets and lackeys, then he just needed to wait until I ran out of energy. I turned to look behind me for only a swift moment.

Seeing that I truly smoked the millipedes, I could still hear ear-shattering cries from beyond the tree line. So if I wanted to hide, now was the time to do it. Several yards in front of me set a small pit, or at least that's what it looked like at the time. I tried to spin around and spot a better option, but nothing came into view, nor that of the fact that I was just far too panicked to actually see anything. I couldn't risk waiting any more precious moments, though, and my opportunity to find somewhere to catch my breath who is quickly fading. So, with little time left, I jumped in.

into the pit. I couldn't risk those things seeing me actually enter it though. This way I had a chance to hide out in here and let them pass by on the ground above. Now that I was actually inside the pit though, I was able to get a much better grasp on the details of its loose dirt walls, roots, insects and the loose branches embedded within them. I tried to put my back against one dirt wall of the pit in order to get some recovery time from the fatigue. But instead of feeling bumpy dirt surface attempting to poke its way through my shirt. I felt nothing. Instead, I just found myself laying flat on the bottom of the pit after a quick and clumsy collapse. You can imagine my surprise when I'd turn back to see a tunnel, a cross-space-sized tunnel inside the pit. I didn't immediately go in,

God knows, I was having trouble deciding whether or not it was a trap or a blessing. Considering my luck thus far, I was inclined to lean towards the former. You see, the tunnel behind me wasn't just dirt. Only a few yards after the beginning of its depth, it was no longer made of dirt or any natural material. Instead, I could see the shine and reflection of metal. The screeches of the millipedes quickly amped up for every second that I sat there contemplating my next action. But with every moment that passed, I seriously began to reconsider my previous plan of just hiding in the initial pit itself and praying they didn't notice me. Because one little slip up, and I was a goner.

Yes, it was a plan that success would be entirely based on it. Well, who was I to decide they couldn't just look down a damn hole? I mean, they already appeared more intelligent than what you'd expect from Millipedes. No Einstein's by any means, but I'm unfortunately confident they'd notice my presence, or at least some of them would. Well, if it were only a couple of them on my tail, maybe this idiotic idea would actually have a chance. I took a few glances back at the rest of the pit and then to the tunnel, darting my eyes from side to side like a crazed mental patient.

I knew what had to be done, which was the lesser of two evils, but still didn't mean I had an easy time making the decision to take my chances like that. Overall, I knew the truth. One was nearly guaranteed death, and the other was potentially death, or perhaps something even worse. I got down firmly on my hands and knees and began to crawl into the tunnel, just as I could hear the rapid footsteps and hellish cries from the millipedes coming right towards the edge of the pit. Careful not to let the backpack scrape up against the dirt above me, I also left the stick I picked up behind as it would just slow me down and potentially make unnecessary noise. They were close, so hauntingly close. The pitter-patter of their many legs only pushing me to crawl faster, cementing the thither. thought that I was correct in my decision to choose the tunnel. I could feel my knees burning as I crawled against the now dense, metallic floor.

Even the dirt part didn't feel very pleasant. It was mainly the cold emptiness of it all that bothered me. I didn't have on very warm clothes. My teeth began to chatter, but only a little. Goose bumps also formed on my legs and arms as I pushed and continued off my crawl. I stayed as quiet as humanly possible. the millipedes marching above me. Felt like a soldier in the trenches,

just waiting below the ground as my enemy moved, dangerously close in my proximity. Eventually the height of the tunnel increased gradually, allowing me to stand up and walk somewhat normally. It was dimly lit, getting darker and darker the deeper I journeyed in. The dirt ceiling covered with roots and insects were crawling about. I pressed forward nonetheless, out of curiosity but also necessity. As I was ninety percent sure, some of the millipedes had crawled their way into the pit opening.

They knew where I'd gone, and they were following me. I didn't immediately break into a sprint, or a run, too noisy. I did pick up the pace, though, my footsteps growing in distance as I swung my arms back and forth, my hand still stinging from the cut. Squinting my eyes, I spotted what appeared to be a door about a couple of a dozen or so feet in front of me. It was hard to notice at first, being the same colour and rusted tint as the rest of the metal surrounding it. Its main distinctive feature being its bulk, slightly bulging out from the rest of the wall. It was practically a bank vault entrance.

The millipedes, they had now gotten past the dirt section of the tunnel, and made it to the metal floors, the walls and the ceiling. I could hear them clear as day. Once again, I started taking bigger steps, swinging my arms a little faster. but I didn't dare start running, not yet. There was a good chance the door wasn't locked. This obviousness of the pit implied these people wanted me to find it. No chains or welding marks, whatever the official term is for that last one anyway. First I heard the screeches and then the scampering of their hundreds of legs as they made their way towards me.

I wanted to say that I kept calm and maintained my pace at a reasonable level between quiet and efficient, but no, I broke out into a full-on sprint. Turns out walking to keep quiet had done me far more harm than good. I pumped my legs with all my power, keeping my arms close, so as to not let them bang into the walls of the tunnel. Not looking back as I went, well, I didn't need to. The headache-inducing call of the creatures gave me more than enough motivation to keep moving. I finally made it to the door, nearly forgetting to put the brakes on,

almost tragically colliding with it like the clumsy moron I was. I reached out and grabbed the right side of the door, sliding my fingers between it and the wall before pulling with all my might and heaving it open a few inches at a time. The millipedes were right behind me, getting closer with every passing second. Only now did I actually take a chance and look behind me

as I continued opening the door, seeing the reflections with their stomach churning exoskeletons on the floor, the walls and the ceiling, all of them nearly engulfing the tunnel itself. Once the gap in the door was wide enough for me to slip in, I wasted no time doing so, grabbing the end of the door and swinging myself around

with no time to get a hold or visual grasp on the room I was now in. I grunt and snarled as I pulled the door back shut. Every muscle in my arms and shoulders burning as I used every last ounce of my strength and energy. My veins emerging as I heard my fingers and joints crack. The door creaked with a booming volume as it finally made contact with the wall, but that wasn't the only peace-shattering noise that filled this strange new expanse. I screamed as I felt something violently pierced my leg not too far above my ankle, just

after I'd finished closing the door. Whatever it was was going right through my pants as if the material wasn't even there. I jumped backward as I looked down, spotting one of the millipies who'd made it through just before the door was finally closed. He had what I can only assume was his head against my leg, blood-staining the fabric of my trousers as he tried to crawl and carve himself into my leg. I fell down after trying to reach for it, throwing out my left hand as I gritted my teeth from the agonizing sting,

thrashing my arm around after I grabbed onto the back end of the millipede, tugging and yanking him away from my leg as he continued to try and bury himself inside it. It was definitely a painful yet strange sensation, not that I was curious enough to continue learning from my experience. I helped like a wounded dog after I'd managed to pull him out of my upper layers of skin. He luckily hadn't gotten too deep in. My blood sat on the first quarter inch of the thing's head, but I didn't bother observing it. Instead I just threw him as hard as I could across the room, causing him to seemingly

die on impact. But, just like the last time, not a single drop of blood emerged, speaking of my current surroundings. The room itself was about the size of a high-end master bedroom you'd find in an upper-class home, not that it was very sanitary or organised by any means. The left wall was lined with unplugged, switched off and outdated monitors that were covered in dust, sitting atop a desk of equally old and abandoned-looking nature. This stuff had to be from the mid-90s or older. Next to the keyboards sat piles and stacks of all sorts of documents and written records,

none of which I could understand at first glance. I looked around for anything to wrap my wound with. It wasn't bleeding profusely, but at least enough for me to be concerned. Part of me genuinely wondered if I should try using some of the papers on the desk with all the monitors, but there was no way it wasn't covered in all sorts of filth and bacteria that would only make my predicament that much worse. So, for the time being, I just toughed it out. I had plenty of motivation to stay inside this room,

and I could hear the millipies crawling up and down the door outside. It definitely seemed strong enough to hold, but it wouldn't be long before I starved to death in here, unless there was some sort of secret stash of non-perishable food cans and bottled water. Highly unlikely, though. Plus, first we'll get you long before hunger does. My best chance at survival was to wait out the millipedes, or find another way out of this cold, slightly damp, metallic prison.

There was little light, I couldn't even tell where the minuscule amount of it was coming from, but I had enough to manage. The rest of the walls were either bare or contain the same assortment of items and equipment that the first one I laid ice upon did, with the exception of one of the blank walls containing a keypad on it. The idea occurred to me that it would be a benefit to my mental and emotional well-being to try and learn all I could about this place, not to mention I needed something to get my mind off the stinging of my unattended wound

well of course trying to switch on those dinosaurs of monitors didn't work in the slightest so instead I started to look through the more physical documents a majority of them covered in dust and what looked to be dried up coffee residue did catch my interest more so than the rest some sort of blueprint a basic unfinished unpolished sketch for what was no machine hardware or weapon at least not a weapon in the traditional sense. No, it looked like a man, possessing four limbs and was bipedal in its drawn stature.

Although that's where any human similarities ended, and the more monstrous qualities began. Its eyes were in the shape of your typical home light bulb. Its arms long, claws as sharp as surgical knives on its hands and teeth that looked as if they could pierce right through steel with little more than a single bite. I shook my head and put the blueprint down, knowing that it didn't contain any information that was helpful to me.

I rummished through some more of the documents, flipping through pages and pages of information I either didn't understand or had no prior context to. It felt equivalent to speed-reading a thousand-page novel, word after word, letter after letter, a book which was basically in another language. The title of one document did catch my attention, though. I put it out from the rest of the papers, not even. paying mind when the rest fell over and scattered amongst the floor i raised and held the document steady with two hands at the top reading the heading in bold big black letters

recruitment process 43e authorization of ted bowser d o o of site 12 facility hmm ted bowser was that the strange soldier doubt it i'm pretty sure he was nothing more than a taking orders from the guy whose name was at the top of this document. But nonetheless, I continued reading. Subject of interest is to be extracted and taken to the following coordinates. The coordinates in question were stamped with a red bar and labelled classified, which was to be expected, but if I had to take a wild guess, I'd assume it was where I had first been taken.

But why record the videos? Was it to study me further, learn as much as possible, I'm sure they had a much more intelligent reason than pure and utter sadism. I continued reading on, seeing both the name Ted Bowser and Dr. Athena L. West, popping up several times throughout the paragraphs as I go along. Although I'd skimmed it multiple times over, there wasn't anything important that I could benefit from in this one either. Oh, I could still hear the millipedes outside the door.

At this point it was becoming more of an annoyance than a sound that instilled me with dread. I knew that it'd be quite a while before they actually gave up. I made a last attempt to comb through some more of the documents that had now fallen onto the floor, most of which ended up contending useless information about budget, construction projects for this so-called organisation, and all sorts of other jibba-jabber that flew right over my head. I did, however, stumble upon a paper that had its bottom left corner torn off. This by itself was obviously nothing to write home about, until I saw what was written right above it.

Key code number 21. Access granite to level three clearance or higher. Any such violations will result in immediate execution and or termination. With the paper in hand, I marched over to the blank wall that had the dusty keypad on it. At the top, it had an engraving of two numbers just above where the thin screen that displayed the numbers was. 21. All I needed to do was find the missing piece of paper containing the code, although part of me felt like, if they were truly this well-funded and possessed so many resources, they would surely have just destroyed it. But why? What was there behind that wall that needed to be permanently hidden or locked away? If it was anything like what I'd encountered up to this point, and I didn't know what a more terrifying prospect was, me being ready for it, or not. I sculpted out every possible crevice and cranny, making a full trip around the cold room several dozen times to make sure I'd miss nothing on my previous lap, redundantly scanning my eyes up and down countless times as I tried desperately to spot something.

I ran up to the desk and moved the monitors and wires around, checking underneath every square inch of the objects covering the surface of the desk, being greeted with nothing but dust, food crumbs and old worn-out-looking flash-drive. An epiphany shredded itself into my psyche as I mentally repeated the phrase, food crows, in my head as if I needed confirmation that I thought about it in the first place. I took off my backpack as quickly as I could, dropping it onto the ground and unzipping the largest bit before, reaching my hand inside and retrieving the loaf of bread that I'd gotten as part of the supplies, left at the campsite for my awakening. It was squashed and battered to all hell, due to my fall earth. earlier. I was just lucky that the camcorder seemed to even still be intact. Those numbers. The numbers on the piece of paper covering the barcode. The six digits written in the purple ink. 892-506. I marched over to the keypad, now fully tuning out the sound of the millipedes,

repeatedly crawling around the metallic door. Every step I took now wasn't fuel by fear. It was fueled by pure, unbridled, and at this point justified rage. I threw the tip of my index finger at the keypad, rapidly punching in the numbers. The button's sticky and clearly used beyond their reasonable threshold. Now, while everything else was unplugged and black screens, the keypad still had power. Not that it was anything worth questioning. These people were pushing me where they wanted me, putting me in the wrong. right place at the right time like I was a rat in a maze so why wouldn't the keypad have power i

punched in the last number all of them staying on the screen for only a moment before disappearing and allowing a short sentence to appear access granted welcome p r number one six three two p r that agent had kept on telling me he'd passed mentioning something about a trial of me needing to survive. If what I was assuming was correct, then there was a good chance PR stood for potential recruits. Perhaps I was wrong, trying to inject too much logic into what was going on. This all had to be a nightmare. It just had to be. I couldn't even comprehend why in the living hell this was happening to me. Billions of people to pick from, and I'm the one who had to endure this game of physical and psychological torture. If only I'd had time to let

all that sit, because after the keypad finished its process, the wall began to split right down the middle, the two sides pulling apart and sliding away from each other in opposite directions like standard elevator doors. A blinding ocean of light flooded into the room, contrasting with the dim and slim to non-lighting in my current expanse. I put my hands up in front of my eyes as I squinted, attempting to adjust to the sudden and abrupt change. But once it started to hurt less, once my eyes began to adjust to the harsh shift of light, I finally laid eyes upon the most bizarre and simultaneously confusing sight

that I'd come across throughout the whole mess of mind games and torment. Before me laid a room, white walls, white floor and a white ceiling, pristine and sterilized beyond what was necessary. If it wasn't for the strange submersion tanks, I'd be the only sign of life in there. Now, speaking of the tanks, There were 15 of them, all around 10 feet in height and 12 feet in cylinder circumference. The glass is clear as day.

Inside each tank was a volume of liquid filling it right to the top. A type of strange, mucus-coloured water that seemed like something out of a renowned university's chemistry labs. Yet it was far from the most outlandish thing in there. Inside each of the tanks was a creature, floating within the liquid, accompanied by a mum of multitude of wires connected to their bodies. Not that they seemed to have much function, because even for supposed monsters, schools, or cryptids, or whatever you call these things, they were highly deformed and almost looked as if they were severely rotting, or with the exception of one. The first being consisting of a multi-headed bird of some sort that had seemingly spliced with human features,

as it had fingers on the ends of the wings and, devolved, primate-esque feet, place of its talons. The toes all bent and crooked in some stomach churning directions. Another creature being what I can only describe as a supersized brown recluse spider had a scorpion-like stinger jetting out from its body. That wasn't even counting the fact that the stinger was split into six different sections, all of them leaking a thick, dark purple goo into the tank and discolouring the submerging liquid. On the outside bottom of each of the tanks was a small, rectangular plate of metal with an engraving the first tank closest to the doors saying the following subject one a then i walked over to the second subject two a subject three a subject four

and so on and so forth all until i got up to subject 15a and they ended there speaking of that though i saw a that was taped the last tank. I already knew it was from them. These monsters, the agents, I mean, the depraved people who did this. I could have sworn that I saw one of the creatures in the tank's move, their barely functioning eyes, to look at me. Well, they all had to be dead,

but surely they had to be. It was just my paranoia getting the better of me. I made it to the tank and snatched the note off the glass before picking it up and reading the printed text displayed across the paper. We're impressed that you've made it this far, Mr. Warner. But unless you can survive and complete the final tasks we've laid out for you to our satisfaction,

then you'll not be seen as agency material. No, please. Open up the camcorder we provided you and watch the third pre-recorded video. It's crucial to your next significant move. I knew full while that I was walking straight into a trap. At the end of the day, trying to resist this would be nothing but futile.

They had the knowledge and the firepower to make sure I did as they demanded. So I had to keep playing their game by their rules. Lord knows, they'd probably had cameras and listening devices in this area. As long as I went along with this, I should be fine up until the point where I find an opportunity to escape. And I almost felt foolish for considering that as a possibility. I hesitantly extracted the camcorder out from my backpack and opened it up, heading over to the pre-recorded videos and finding out that the third video had indeed been

fully unlocked and was available for me to view. Not that the prospect truly excited me, but more or less just satisfied my morbid curiosity. The actual content of the video differed greatly from the thumbnail frame, indicating that this was more likely done to throw me off or not give away what was to come, the initial image appearing as another section in the forest. Once the video began, however, took place. inside this bunker. Two individuals are standing in this very room talking among themselves. The frame is steady, focusing in on the two as they bicker. The one on the left was a woman with long, elegant, blonde hair, done in a neat ponytail, looking to be about middle-aged,

dressed in a stainless white lab coat with a pair of glasses resting on her nasal bridge. She had this, dare I say, almost lifeless and cold stare. The only emotion I could detect was just a pinch of malice. In contrast, the man on the right was a bit taller, dressed in a grey suit with not a wrinkle in sight. His hair short and also looking to be about the woman's age, give or take a few years. His expression was a much more bitter one, as if he quite literally had a stick up his ass. I knew this place was a waste of our budget, he yelled, pointing a finger at the woman's face. We have 16A. We're not going to waste space back in the main lab keeping these four.

failed abominations there, she fires back. No, I'm tired of you thinking that you're owed whatever you want, you can just spend our money how you want for your precious little experiments. We need to throw these things into the bottom of the goddamn ocean and be done with it. The man muttered. Arise the public or the government fighting out? The woman counters rhetorically. Do you want the FBI to be brought down on us?

You know the director of operations, and you suggest something as idiotic and stupid as that look around you dog he replied furiously while pointing around the room at all the creatures in the tanks this room is literally filled with your failures wasted budget dollars wasted man hours and wasted time who the hell do you think gives us half our funding a ghost the scientist lady steps closer to him clearly not intimidated by his demeanor and if she was she did a hell of a job of not showing it project emulate was a success whether you're man enough to admit it or not we have a living weapon now how big gun he's already disposed of dozens of cryptids so go ahead and tell me more about how much of the budget was wasted she snapped using air quotes with her fingers and changing her tone into one of

brash mockery all right what happens when you see his paper in the picture or someone with enough pull amongst the public says something Do you know how much more of a pain in the ass that makes our jobs? The police answer to us, sure, but who do you think they'll really choose between us and the Pentagon when the pressures applies? Yeah, they'll need to keep up appearances, and we'll have an example made out of us for letting this kind of shit out. Conditions of our deal rely on the fact that we need to keep this airtight. If anyone gets a whiff of what goes on in our walls, they either join us or they die. The Pentagon already hides enough from the morons out there walking the streets.

What makes you think 16A would change their minds, Ted? You need to start thinking with your actual brain and whatever last bits of cells you have within it. Damn it, West. He's learning. He's getting smarter. I just know it. One day he's going to come back to bite us in our asses. But I'm going to have to shove a nice tall glass as I told you so right in your face. Only then will you finally see the truth. Both Ted and Dr. West fell silent. And just from the footage alone,

I couldn't tell if they were truly out of emotional energy, or if their rage was boiling just underneath the surface ready to explode at any minute. Regardless, this video hadn't given me what I needed to move on. I had no clue what or who was so crucial in this footage that I needed to see. So I was at a loss, attempting to re-watch the clip over and over to find what I was apparently missing. but nothing in my mind clicked no grand revelation that i thought would save me no cathartic reveal of any important knowledge i tried pressing on the walls for a sign of a secret door there had to be some sort of hidden room or extension to this horrific bunker the ceiling was just as flattened just as featureless as the walls and the floor though surely this wasn't the end that i would just go insane before dying of thirst after all that i'd already survived up to this point in time

I tried stepping back into the previous room to see if there was anything left in there that I could use to get out of here. I'd already come through it to death when looking for the code to the keybag, but my desperation was far too potent for me to just give up, despite that being the easiest thing to do, to just simply give up and die here alone, isolated, trapped in this equivalent of hell. Just like before, I went through every possible hole, sliver an inch of depth in the area.

I smashed apart the back sides of the monitors on the desk and even tried looking inside them. Let's just say I'd watch one too many saw movies in my lifetime. But throughout my chaotic and destructive rampage, I'd neglected to keep myself aware of my surroundings. And because of that very fact, I didn't pick up on the fact that there were no longer the crawling sounds of the millipedes outside the door.

I, of course, wanted to be sure. As this just seemed way too good to be true, my frustratingly cynical mind wanted me to deny the possibility of it. I approached the door cautiously and quietly, taking great care to make sure my steps emitted no sound. I kept my breathing light and steady, putting forth the best effort I could to give the impression I wasn't even there. I gently placed my right ear up against the door. I didn't know how good these things could hear, so my willingness to respect. being detected and reattracting their attention was slim to none. Nonetheless, though, I still didn't pick up any noises coming from the other side of the door, no crawling, no screeching, or any

ghastly shrieks. Despite this, I still didn't open the door right away, not without some method of self-defense, and without the shotgun, I was already in a handicapped position. So I turned and dashed back over to the desk with the monitors, picking one of them up and carrying it over my shoulder in the room with the tanks. The tank I gravitated too specifically, though, happened to be the one containing the giant spider and scorpion hybrid.

The glass used for these tanks didn't appear to be very strong. Nothing along the grade of ballistic or bulletproof glass. I guess it made sense. These creatures seemed to be dead and this was all out of commission. Why waste any premium resources on something that's

not important to your operations anymore? Plus, I assume the wires did something to prevent them from attempting to breach the tanks. Once I figured I was a bit too close to the tank. I took a few steps back just to be on the safe side before launching the monitor off my shoulder at the glass. The screen on the monitor smashed and the backside got split clean in half,

but the impact didn't completely break the tank, only sending a long crack up the middle. Oh, damn, I cursed, running back into the computer room and grabbing another monitor. This time was much quicker, the more haste in my step as I hoisted it over my shoulder and hauled ours back to the tank. My plan was to try and rip the stinger off the dead spider-scorpion hybrid and weaponise it against the millipedes.

Seeing as I no longer had the shotgun, I wasn't about to just walk out there without a way to fight off those things in case they came back, not to mention that the big stick I'd had earlier was all the way out into the pit. I got as much momentum forward as I could, and then I threw the second monitor, groaning once it left my hands and collided with the already cracked tank. On this attempt, the glass finally shattered, immediately sending all the fluid inside spilling out onto the floor below, trenching both my shoes and the bottom of my pants before it flowed away. The wires connected to the creature, and the tank snapped, all of them disconnecting almost

simultaneously as the creature now fell a foot or two to the bottom of the tank. It's lifeless body too heavy without the support of the liquid's density. But here's the thing. I didn't immediately reach for the stinger, because when I look close, and I mean very, very close, I spotted something that made my blood freeze to absolute zero right there on the spot. Its eyes. They blinked.

I was so terribly wrong about this thing being dead. and it was about to cost me greatly. I stepped back as the beast slowly began to raise its stinger, rising up above me and showing its clearly superior and monstrous size. Standing well above seven feet tall and the full length of its stinger, jetting out, made it clear the nine-foot mark. All those dark, lifeless black hole-like eyes were focusing right on me. The creature then jerked forward as it attempted to throw its stinger at me,

I moved out of the way, only avoiding the tack by mere inches. The creature's blow was powerful enough to crash right through the marble of the wall, leaving its stinger embedded within it. But that wouldn't last very long. This did give me the opportunity to run. I had made a terrible mistake, and I was lucky that I'd even lived long enough to comprehend it as such. I leapt across the floor, almost slipping on some of the fluid from the tank after landing. I got to the bank vault-like door.

reaching into the crevice and pulling with all my might, surprisingly getting it open much faster than the first time. Well, adrenaline works wonders, especially when you're running for your life away from things that shouldn't even exist to begin with. The creature roared a triumphant call, signaling to me it had gotten its sting-free and was back on the move. I threw myself to the other side of the door, making an attempt to close it before realizing the thing had already gotten far too close.

When I looked outside, I saw the millipedes had disappeared. Even if they were still out there, this thing would definitely continue to be the more immediate priority, though. The beast thrashed its stinger forward yet again, its blow quick, sharp and on point, landing right inside its target. Me. I yelped like an injured puppy as it pierced its way just to the right of my sternum, blood showing itself from my shirt as it began to drip down my tongue. blood showing itself from my shirt as it began to drip down my chest and stomach luckily there was far less than what i'd pictured inside my head but still enough was present to be alarming luckily the cut itself wasn't too deep or wide although it was extremely painful i managed to wrestle myself off falling onto my back and my impact with the ground being accompanied by both a loud thud and harsh groan from heels truly whatever was inside this thing I could feel it already beginning to take effect my chest beginning to turn into the same sickly and dark purple like the liquid from the creature's stinger I pushed past the discomfort initially turning and getting to my feet to run for my life or what little was left of it

sprinting through the bigger portion of the tunnel and trying to make it to the crawl space on the bright side of this was that the space would be small enough for me to crawl through but leave the creature behind as it was obviously too big to follow me. So for the time being, I'd escaped, or so I naively assumed, I could hear it behind me, all those grotesquely massive and hairy legs as they tapped along the metal, only further motivating me to get to the dirt crawl space, despite my quickly dwindling strength. Without the shotgun, I wouldn't stand a semblance of a chance

against this nearly Eldritch beast, although I'm sure it wouldn't have done me much good anyway. I could practically feel my chest becoming heavier as the venom seeped deeper and flowed its way through my veins. I probably didn't have much longer, but I'd rather have died like that than being devoured alive by the thing. Not that either option was exactly gratifying. But the creature growled yet again

as I could practically feel its breath down the back of my neck. I was just inches away from the crawl space. every bone aching for me to keep going forward. I launched myself forward and dove into the crawl space, but not before the creature had sunk its stinger into my backpack, dragging me back towards the opening of the crawl space as I dug my nails into the ground to stop it. But it was no use.

The thing was far too powerful for me, and so with lightning speed I manoeuvred my arms and got them out of the straps, disconnecting the backpack from my body, and allowing me to go free. only avoiding a far worse fate by mere inches. I tried to flatten my hands and bear crawl to speed things up. Every movement feeling like the difference between life and death,

despite the fact I technically escaped this creature. As I kept going forward, the beast howled and growled angrily, furiously that I'd slipped away from its clutches. But still, there was a good chance that it wouldn't matter anyway, because not only did my chest look like Barney the dinosaur had vomited on it, that the organisation was probably still keeping a close eye on me. I saw the light at the end of the cross-space where the pit was, my head beginning to pound with every passing second.

I felt almost lighter, as if I was rapidly losing weight at an inhuman pace. I was sure to mentally remind myself that I couldn't give out quite yet, not here, not in this claustrophobia-inducing crevice. Luckily, the light at the end did become brighter. as I inched closer, my hands red from the scraping against the dirt, and my forearm's beginning to turn into the purple, alien-like tint of the venom. I only felt true catharsis after breaking through the entrance of the crawl space and emerging back into the pit, huffing, puffing, and wheezing due to my dry mouth.

But for now I was relieved, relieved that at least my current route to the afterlife wouldn't be me screaming as I was torn apart. Well, that was until I heard the distinct. think clicking sound of two individuals loading a magazine into their respective firearms. I raised my hands and cautiously shifted myself 180 degrees, seeing two of those agents geared up and having weapons trained on me. One of them with an overly smug smile on his face also happened to be the moron I'd encountered earlier on the hill. The other one, however, lowered his rifle and held out a hand for me to help me out of the pit, causing the other one to grow irritated.

but just before I grabbed his hand, he quickly retracted it, taken aback by my admittedly off-putting appearance. Bar three. What the hell just happened? Did you bust open a can of spree-pin on yourself? Geez! No, you don't get it. There's no time to explain. We've got to get out of here.

The agent's face scrunches, but after a moment of hesitation, he reaches down to once again give me a hand, or be it a little bit more cautiously than the first time. Why help him? He's going to be dead in a bit anyway. He failed his trial. The agent with his hand out ignored him. Allow me to grab on before he hoisted me up, groaning while doing so.

Yeah, he's right, I admitted, as I helped lift myself over the edge of the pit and immediately collapsed onto my back next to a pine tree. Coughing twice into my elbow, a bit of blood accompanying the usual gun. But I did more and just fail, and after everything you assholes did to me, I'll still warn you that we can't stay here and we need to go. Forget the trial bullshit. I added on with yet another wheezing cough, spotting another group of the Millipede standing docile behind the feet of both agents.

Why don't we need to go so bad? What are you on about? inquired the more sadistic agent from earlier on. one of those things in the bunker i exclaimed as powerfully as i could manage at the time it's out i'll let it out they both shot each other a glance of utter confusion like they had no idea what i was talking about what do you mean it the agent who helped me asked stepping forward with a suspicious glare how in the hell would they not know or the doctor and the director keeping it hidden from them if so then why show me Then, as if on cue, the dirt in the ground a few feet behind the agents was displaced, sending heaps and chunks flying outward in every possible direction. The sound of a low roar accompanying the noises of the earth being breached. A significant portion of the millipedes were destroyed in the process, getting flung or crushed

by the weight that was far too heavy for what they could manage to support. a large circular bulge with eight long, thin legs explosively jetted out on both right and left. The agents turned to name their rifles at the rising dirt and grass as the mass below emerged. Breaking away the largest surface area of the dirt and letting it fall and crumble into smaller pieces, the millipedes also beginning to converge on the center of the chaos. But once it all tumbled onto the ground and the mass that dug its way up from below was revealed, I couldn't help but crawl in reverse, hitting my back against a tree as I did so. The scorpion spider hybrid bellowed triumphantly as it finally made its way out,

all eight of its hairy and monstrous legs planting themselves in the grounds surrounding it. All of its eyes focused on the two agents, staring at them like a small child would glare at two frosted donuts. This is Agent Peter. We need a team of units and subject 16A out here immediately. the hostile is on the loose. Even though I was weak beyond belief, with my life force slipping away by the second, I mustered up the courage to make what I thought was a reasonable demand at the time. Give me a gun, now.

What? The agent on the left squealed, as the both of them opened fire on the creature. Hell no. The impact of the bullets threw the creature off its balance, but not much more than that. The booming gunfire rang out through the forest, even causing me to cover my ears, the venom from the sting, making my hearing even more sensitive.

The creature lunged forward after releasing an angry holler, throwing its stinger out forward and fully impaling the agent on the left. Or not just stinging him, no, the stinger had gone clean through his chest and emerged out of his upper back, covered in a thick coat of scarlet red blood. He screamed bloody murder and attempted to climb himself off of the stinger, but he's efforts were in vain once his strength quickly slipped away and his demeanour faded. The creature roaring while impaling him even deeper, the stinger tearing clean through his heart and killing him in mere seconds. The other agent rolled to the side as the creature swung its stinger to the left, throwing off the now deceased agent who had been cruelly cabled.

His corpse sent through the air before hitting the ground and tumbling into the pit. while I could only watch as my muscles grew even weaker, the slightest movements becoming painful in their own right. A sensation similar to cramps and soreness was manifesting around my body. The agent actually stood his ground quite well, backing up and putting some distance between the creature and himself before reaching into his utility belt tossing a grenade at the beast. The creature seemed to possess the intelligence of being able to understand the significance of this grenade,

defensively smacking it dozens of feet away with its stinger into a clump of trees. It exploded at the base of a pine tree, disconnecting the upper 90% of the trunk and branches, which in turn caused it to begin to fall over to the side and tumble towards the ground with an explosive thud once it impacted. The millipedes did little to help, attempting to dig their way into the spider's abdomen with little success. Its tough exterior, making it almost impenetrable to their main ability.

Well, I'll be honest, it was jarring to have to root for those things, and the people that were attempting to kill me just hours ago. But, as they say, the enemy of your enemy is your friend. The agent drew his rifle once more and fired a chunk of rounds at the beast, as it started to horrifically charge him once again. But the agent attempting to evade in the threat en route tragically made the mistake of failing to check his surroundings, backing himself up against a tree and seemingly tying the ribbon to his own demise i was now too weak to move much besides my neck and head along with the venom spreading to most of my body as this was taking place well let's just say there was a good chance i wouldn't live long enough to see this play out in its entirety a battle between two forces of destruction one of which didn't choose to be the way it was

On the one hand, I didn't want this gargantuan killing machine to live and get loose into the world. This monstrosity from the mind of the twisted agency that wanted nothing more than to gain for itself, why would they allow me to see these things and not the agents? I still couldn't wrap my head around it. They seemed to have no clue it had existed before it showed up. I couldn't possibly have been anything more than a simple pawn or cog in a machine. Who knows how many people they'd already had and would do this to in the future. To whomever those unfortunate victims may be,

I pray they don't make decisions nearly as foolish as mine. Well, it's not that it truly mattered how much I wished for these people to fail in their overarching plans, because I didn't possess the ability to stop them. Sure, I wanted to see these two men live, but definitely not the people they work for. Had they gone through a similar recruitment process, and being brainwashed in some way.

The one who'd attempted to give me a hand still seemed to have most of his individuality intact. Perhaps the other one did as well. He was just naturally a trigger-happy sadist. Regardless, I knew most of their actions weren't made according to their own terms of free will. The creature reached out toward the remaining agent, not with its stinger,

but with its hairy, deformed spider fangs, realizing the agent was no longer in a position to escape its clutches. I tried to scream, to call out to him. But now the pain was beginning to seep into my jaw as well. The simple movement of my mouth now becoming an agonizing chore. Yes, I was now just on nothing more than borrowed time. The agent pulled the trigger to fire his weapon once more,

only for nothing to happen in response. He attempted to dash to the side again to reach for his sidearm, only for him to be caught and stopped dead in his train. by one of the creature's legs. This in turn resulted in the agent losing his balance, slipping over and seemingly going to fall on his side before being snatched up by the beast's fangs. The man desperately kicked and screamed,

begging for mercy or some form of last-minute intervention as he watched death loom right in front of his very eyes. I could practically feel his terror, his fear, all the millions of emotions that must have been going through his head at that very moment. He was no longer a soldier, an agent or a killing machine. He was just a human being, a scared, trembling human being. Despite what terrible things he'd likely done and was going to do,

he wanted nothing more than for the universe to show him mercy, mercy that he would fail to receive. He even turned over to give me a frightened, most existential glance, his eyes as wide as humanly possible. Well, that's a sense of strange and unusual connection between the two of us in that short time span. I didn't know him, and he didn't know me. But the both of us inching towards our inevitable deaths made us realize who we were at the end of the day. Men.

Mortal. Human. Men. Time slowed down. Every second being dragged out into a minute as I watched the creature's fangs sink and penetrate their way. penetrate their way into the agent's ribcage, rightfully prompting him to scream so violently loud, but I was sure his lungs would burst at any second if they hadn't already. His fingers twitched rapidly, his legs being swung back and forth as he tried to

pointlessly escape his hellish fate. But every action only made the creature cause him even more suffering, as it took his life right in front of me. The agent's blood began to flow and spill onto the fangs, the smell of iron potent as his screams began to soften and his movement slow. The damage was becoming too much for him to handle in a conscious state, but at the very least his endurance of this torture would end soon. He belonged to the people who kidnapped me, drug me, and brought me out here for nothing more than to brutally condition and break me, all so I could become part of their shadowy bullshit. I doubt I would have even been an actual agent, maybe a strategist, perhaps, but, I mean, what the hell does it matter now?

At least I go smiling, knowing they did nothing more than waste both time and resources. I watched as his screams of agony softened. His eyes became less wild, as death quickly gripped a hold of him. The creature only applied more and more force to be sure he met his brutal end. The man's body contorted and snapped to the right, his rib cage now grossly jetting out from his side, blood and chunks of flesh covering the dismantled bones that once belonged to him. His limbs turned limp, while his broken neck did the same, at least I think it is. It was hard to tell when his head was nearly doing a complete 180 on it.

The beast dropped the corpse of the agents, and despite the presence of a slight incline upon which the creature was standing, the body didn't roll. He exposed ribcage preventing it from doing so, the bones embedding themselves. into the dirt. The creature then gave me a look, but didn't approach me or show much interest in attacking me further. It had witnessed the progress of its faint or wounding of me. I was practically a moba.

I'd failed and made a horrible mistake. Not only was I going to pay for it, but potentially others would as well. Others who were hated enough by the universe to end up encountering this thing. My head was pounding like it was hit with the combined. power of every migraine ever experienced by humanity throughout history. My eyes felt ready to bulge out of my head. My ears developed a bit of muffled blockage. Not enough to totally cut off my hearing, but everything sounded a bit more distorted, drowned out, if you were. The creature then turned to walk off triumphantly, with both the agents dead and me soon

to join their fate. There was nothing left for it here, and it knew that. It had won, and now it would be set free to cause as much chaos and havoc as possible. But just as the creature began to march off with its eight hairy monstrous legs, he stood up on its back legs, screeching in high contrast to its more deep growls from before. I, of course, had to take this with a grain of salt due to my now fudged hearing,

but this thing sounded like it was in pure agony, a sudden sharp and stern wave of pain. I tried to see what the commotion was all about, only being able to comfortably move my eyes to see whatever it was that had caused the beast to cry out. His body blocked the majority of whatever it is, but between its bottom legs I could see what looked like two feet, two feet that were far bigger than any man's by a country mile. Plus I didn't know anyone whose feet and ankles were also a midnight blue shade in color.

But that's where any human similarities ended. The spider scorpion then forcefully used. fell onto its back, his legs kicking and squirming in a directionless frenzy of panic. But then I quickly saw the rest of his attacker revealing himself, well, if you'd even call it a him. The beast standing on the abdomen of the spider scorpion monstrosity was very clearly bipedal. His arm's body and legs all extremely slim, but that didn't seem to hold him back in the strength department anyway. The entire surface of his body being that same midnight blue as his feet and ankles.

His heights seemed to be just past the eight-foot mark, making he able to look the scorpion and spider-hybrid thing right in the eyes. I wasn't able to spot a single hair anywhere on his body. I mentioned his eyes, yes? Well, his were strangely shaped like stereotypical home light bulbs. Unlike the spider creature, however, he only possessed two, which sat above his mouth, filled to the brim with teeth just as sharp as katanas.

I didn't even include his claws, long, multiple-inch fingernails at the ends of his hands that looked as if they could cleanly slice through steel, all of which were covered in some sort of dark yellow goo, which had to be the other creature's blood. It oozed along the biped guy's claws as if it were discoloured honey. The blue creature leaned in with a furious expression, staring down the monstrous beast with not a single ounce of fear present within his demeanour. even taking a step further to growl in order to assert dominance. I soon realized just who this was. The creature from the blueprint,

it was a thing those two were talking about in that video. He was subject 16-A. And although I was relieved by his presence, one thing struck me as odd. Where was the team of units that were supposedly going to be here with him? You've done enough, he snarled. This one could speak. He could actually fucking talk.

talk. Sixteen A further attempted to intimidate the arachnid by spreading his fingers out to make his claws more prominent. But the spider didn't back down. He launched his stinger right at Sixteen A and attempted to violently sting him. This, of course, failed miserably. Sixtine A countering his attack by catching the stinger and proceeding to slice off the top few inches with one clean sweep of his claws. The large arachnid roared and thrashed its mass just hard enough to throw the blue creature off and a few dozen feet back, sowing his back right into a tree and breaking off multiple branches. I could still feel myself slipping away by the second,

but if there was anything I wanted to see before I croaked, it was this. The arachnid lunged forward at 16A, who was still just stunned enough from the previous blow to not react in time. The massive spider creature landed and the both of them smashed right through the trunk of the tree. The blue creature did multiple somersaults backwards, a dirt being kicked up as his body scraped against the ground. Despite the fact he appeared so emaciated, his impacts were still plenty forceful enough. Once he came to a stop, the Eracnid attempted to pounce on him once more and used its fangs to grab hold of him. The blue one evaded this rather elegantly before, latching onto a tree in a quadrupedal crawl,

his claws seemingly giving him significant traction as he scaled the length of the trunk in seconds. His slim figure allowed him to climb with ease while the arachnid struggled and ultimately failed to do the same, which I thought was morbidly ironic. This strategic move allowed 16A to pounce down from above onto the back of the arachnid, snarling angrily before piercing the set of claws on his right hand into the back of the arachnid's head. The monstrosity's house of desperate pain and affliction only lasted for mere milliseconds before his grotesque exoskeleton began to collapse, his legs bending and looking as if they were to snap at any moment and they couldn't support his weight any longer. But 16A wasn't quite done with him, not yet. Despite the fact he'd already finished the job, with his claw still lodged in the beast's brains, he curled his finger as if to grip the insides, right before pulling back.

back like someone trying to start a lawnmower and tearing the eractus head right from the rest of his body. That same yellow goo I'd spotted on Sixteen A's claws from before came out in full force after the display of such brutality, not that it wasn't earned. Regardless, his blood practically flooded the surface area below him before flowing its way down into a small crevice between the pine trees. Sixtine A then dropped the head of the beast before dismounting the back of the creature. He then sniffed the air before turning his attention over to me. After which, he dropped down on all force and charged over to my position, seeing that I was in no condition to run or defend myself. He was weirdly elegant as he quickly closed the distance. And at that moment, I thought you would

surely finish me off, too, just to tie up loose ends and leave no witnesses. After all, that was this agency's motto, right? But he didn't. Instead, he stood back up bipedally, glancing down at my pathetic and slumped over mass, as I felt what little consciousness I had slipping away. And there was almost this sorry look in his eyes, like he took pity on me, if he was capable of feeling such emotion to begin with. You're dying, aren't you? he asked. His tone giving me a clear sign he was well aware of the answer. I gave him a simple, slow and pained nod in response. Every nerve ending in my neck and head on fire as I did so, feeling truly powerless and at the mercy of this being who has decided that I was no threat.

I may be a way for you to live, he continued on, without injuring any closer, hesitant in his approach to me, as if trying to eliminate any fear of him that I might have. Well, I'll admit, he wasn't a sight to behold and definitely terrifying an appearance, but was a supermodeling comparison to the abomination he'd just gone to to-to-to-toe. I can't. I stuttered, the pain from the movement of my jaw, making me give up trying to talk any further than I already had. Although he gave me the impression, he was skilled at reading my body language. A silence fell between the two of us. He could only keep looking at me intently as my skin became more and more discoloured. This is it, I thought, no more than a few short moments

left of being on this earth. Sixtine A then leaned down a bit, even though he was still a skyscraper in comparison to my limited human frame, and not being able to stand didn't help much. They are not kind humans, the agency. I ran beyond the team when I heard the creature roaring. I don't think you truly want to come back with us regardless. Well, what if? You pause then, dramatically. What if I left you here in your final moments? They'll likely kill you if they find you anyway. I can inform them that the cryptid has been dealt with and we can return to the facility at least then you won't be subject to the things i've seen them do to other humans your life would no longer be your own with them they've been mostly kind to me

but they'd not share such attitudes with you he tilted his head under the impression that i might respond but i was far too miserable to do so so instead i used every bit of energy i could muster to simply nod my head it was slow and pathetic but perfectly deliberate but perfectly deliberate My neck was still stinging as I did it. Hey Freak, where are you at? A male voice shouted from the tree line further back, making 16A snap to attention. I could tell in his silent expression that he hated being caught that, but yet he seemed more talented at keeping a level head than most humans.

I was almost sure he was lying when he said that they'd been mostly kind to him. There wasn't any doubt in my mind they'd treated him like absolute garbage and he was only being docile about it for their sake. I must go back before they find you, he said, turning to drop down on all fours once more after a short exhale. There were no millipedes left to follow.

They had all been destroyed by the arachnics. Come on, the voice caught out once more. We need to be sticking together. You don't just run off like that, you mora. Now get back here. Sixty-A turned his head to give me one final glance. Here I was thinking he was just another mindless.

killing machine and that the day I ever ran into a cryptid would be the day I died a horrible death. But no, they're not the monsters. Those things in the tanks were the victims. They were created to be nothing more than weapons to do this agency's bidding. And even a lot of these agents, including 16a, were in the same boat. Nothing more than pawns for those at the top. I saw that now. Every non-human entity I'd encountered today was the result of humans dabbling in the realm of things they clearly didn't understand. Without that scientist or that guy in the suit playing God, I'd be still alive and well.

It was them who did this to me, and probably those dead people in the trees. While yes, that thing did need to be put down, it doesn't change the horrific reality of what goes on inside that organisation, and I'd barely scratch the surface. But there I was, against this tree only able to think as my final moments approached have you ever heard the phrase you always regret the things you don't do rather than the things you do well i always thought that was BS until now

my blinks are getting longer as my weak breath shortened i actually start losing the desire to breathe at all and feel lighter like a balloon it wasn't the typical suffocation i'd anticipated it was peaceful fitting like drifting off to sleep at this point everything blurs now contorting in front of my eyes as my lids begin to fall and I pass on to wherever it was next whatever the universe had in store for me because whatever it was

I knew it was going to be better than this a cabin versus a killer from the stars frost collected on the windows as we drove further into the woods next to me my wife of eight years bringer of many headaches. Now, I'll be fair, I contributed to some of those headaches for her as well. Well, let's face it, we're having marital problems. I know, a cliche sort of story, but a common one in today's modern society. We were heading to my grandparents' old cabin up north. My aging ancestors

said it would be the best place for us to reinvigorate romance, as they put it. Lovely. But that's not why I'm recording these papers, no. It was something far greater than a failing marriage. It was 2012 and we had our typical routines. I was an entrepreneur, investing in the stock market with the hopes of making it big. To make the money in this risky scheme of mine, I had to work a regular job just like everyone else, though. I worked in a factory for cars while my wife, Cassie, was trying to become a hairdresser. The topic of money was always a strenuous issue for us.

constantly we've thought about where the money should be going. Cassie believed that we should save as much as we can while I was more willing to take the plunge into the market and try and milk this capitalist engine for all its worth. As you can see, putting those two together created a nasty scenario where two people who wanted to have the best of youthful intimacy slowly got destroyed by the years of conflicting interests. I still thought she was the most beautiful woman in my life.

but the way that she stood in the way of my goals for a better life was stunning to make me question this relationship to go on and hence the cabin now it's december and it's getting close to that date everyone seems to be obsessed over the end of the world what a load of bologna so anyway that's a little background as to why we're going out to the woods but the drive itself was unbearably quiet not once did cassie say anything She didn't put up much of a fight either when I suggested that we go out to the cabin. Deep down, I think, a part of me wondered if maybe she thought this was all in vain and wanted to get it over with. I believe a part of me believes that as well.

Perhaps this is all a wasted effort, and the end result will be our inevitable divorce. Who knows? There's always that slim chance. When I looked up at the sky, I saw that there was a meteor shower already happening above. "'Hey, Cassie, look,' I said, with childish delight. She looked up from her window with a stoic expression, but I noticed a slight twinkle in her eye. For what I could tell, she was surprised to see such a glorious display from the beauty of the stars above. Although astronomy was always more her thing, I still found joy in the little things too. Well, I admit I wasn't expecting that.

Right, once row the cabin we could just hit me when I realized it. I had no plan going forward. My goal was to get her out of the house. What are we supposed to do the moment we get to that cabin? It's not like I'm going to ask to be intimate right then and there. You've got to work things up to stuff like that, especially with how strained our relationship is. This was going to be more debilitating than I thought.

No matter what scenario I feel. thought of, nothing seemed appropriately times. Make her dinner. Watching TV, sounded kind of stupid, considering that we did a hold of that back of the house. Frankly, I'm not the most creative when it comes to trying to mend a relationship. Hey, um, want to go for a walk later?

She cooed. My eyes drifted over to her, looking at her as she fidgeted with her long, light blonde hair. A small smile grew on my face. At least she was trying to make an effort, too. perhaps there is hope after all. I sure think, S.E. I don't mind.

Once we arrived at the cabin, it was within no time that we settled in. Although fully furnished, there was dust everywhere. Surprisingly few cobwebs, so spiders weren't going to be an issue. The old cabin-like aesthetic with furniture that looked like it dated back to the 1800s, and was handcrafted, made the entire home feel like it was holding some dark secrets of a mysterious past. Thankfully, my grandparents had been smart enough to remove any food from the house before we arrived. Yeah, the last thing I'd want is to see year-old spoiled food everywhere, forcing the two of us to clean up any more than we had to.

The only thing I was concerned about was that I spotted something in the closet of the bedroom. My grandfather's guns. Couldn't you buy a gun safe old man? Cassie peeked over my shoulder and said, Why is that even here? Ah, my grandpa was a gun lover. What'd you expect to find here? Those things should be melted down.

My wife, though I still love her, was heavily against guns. She believed that they should all be taken away from the civilian population. Frankly, I thought the exact opposite. I believe that it should be every person's right to get one. Maybe not a semi-automatic or shotgun. A good pistol or revolver will be satisfactory enough for me. another source of contention between us was our differing viewpoints i always voted republican while she voted socialist democrat

back when we were dating we knew this stuff from the very beginning but we were young dumb and frankly didn't think that it would become such a hot issue to this day i can say without a doubt that it doesn't play much of an issue even now the best thing to do is not talk about it and not try to force each other's ideals down each other's throat. Still, we occasionally had our slip-ups, but I let it go. Naturally, the walk would have to happen tomorrow morning, and after driving for the last ten hours, I can safely assume that we wanted to sleep in. As we were getting ourselves ready for bed, I looked up my wife with hopefulness bubbling in my heart. She always tried to do everything, so graceful, considering

how she came from a family that was quite a little. elegant and frankly made more money than I could ever hope to. She wants to become a hairdresser, I have no idea. It was a change of pace or out of spite for her appearance. I thought about saying something to remind her that I still loved her. But before the worst could even escape my mouth, there was a flash of bright light coming from the window. She looked up and her eyes widened with a fearful stare.

I turned around, wondering what was causing it. It was too bright for me to even see out of the glass. And how bang followed afterward, making me believe for a moment that something disastrous was going on. Was it a nuclear war? Some random volcano that freaked storm. My mind was racing with every possible scenario. But as quickly as it came,

both the sound and the light vanished into the woods. Oh, are you okay? Cassie said, hunkering down behind the bed. Yeah, I was afraid I was going to go blind there for a moment. I tried to look away as quickly as I saw it. I was afraid I might go deaf from that sound. Despite it being freezing outside, I opened the window and looked around. There was no smoke anywhere, nor was there even a remnant of the light flickering somewhere off in the distance.

I caught the smell, though. It smelled like burning rubber. Perhaps it was more like plastic burning. Either way, it was awful. I quickly shut the door, not wanting any of that to get in. Well, that was weird. My wife agreed, and surprisingly, she wanted me to come to bed. This was a bizarre turn of events for me,

considering that she never once cared. But perhaps it was because she was scared. Reasonable response. The next morning, we went about our habits and freshened up. After reading a light breakfast, we finally managed to put on some snow clothes and go out for that walk. The brisk air and the gentle breeze were more than I'd expected to handle, but I feel like the nervous tension was definitely keeping us warm. I never realized how hard it was to talk to her.

The Kessi, what do you think that was, that strange light last night? Another brief moment passed before she replies. I don't know. Couldn't get a good look. Well, well, at least we got to go out on this night's walk. Hopefully both of us wore boots because the snow was unusually high. Not too far down the road, though, we spotted a house. There was a family outside, a man, woman, three kids, two boys and one girl. They were playing in the snow, building snowmen and forts.

They waved to us, and it was a bit of a bitter reminder about how we'd squandered our marriage with our short-term goals in mind. Cassie had this longing in her eyes. I could tell she wished that we'd have done the same. same and if I honest with myself maybe parenthood would have been something nice we waved as we passed by but neither of us wanted to talk about the matter moving further down the road I could spot some smoke rising from deep within the forest I looked at Cassie but she hadn't noticed it yet I pointed it out to her we were both curious about what could be causing a fire in the woods yeah want to check it out she asked only if you want to

to. Do you want to or not? she said more forcefully. Yeah, God, all right, I replied back in my own angered way. I led the way. She followed behind as we trudged through the snow away from the road. As we got closer, I could smell that horrible stench again. Now I was certain we were getting closer to whatever it was that caused that late last night. Perhaps it was a meteorite or a satellite. finally we clear past the last batch of pine trees and saw what it was a huge crater with something metallic in the centre was that a ball cassie remarked from behind and moved closer to the edge of the crater looking down at it every time a snowflake touched the metallic surface of the orb it instantly turned into steam i decided to circle the edge of the crater wanting to see if there was a way to get a full view of the orb what it was, just out of curiosity. I wasn't sure what it was actually. It was a grey orb, no unique details other than it was six feet tall, and well that was it. Well, that's what I thought until I moved over to the other end of the orb, I thought that there's an opening to the inside.

It looked like a seat, which made me come to the conclusion that it was a space pod. The um, does NASA build space pods, Cassie? Not to my knowledge. I don't keep up with space stuff. As I kept inspecting the pod, I noticed that there was some green liquid that was trailing off into the snow up to the crater, until it vanished into the woods. What in the world? Suddenly the piercing sound of children screaming, as well as a man and a woman broke through the forest,

causing my heart to beat erratically like a pounding drum. Those are sounds I never want to hear again. Cassie's face ran white like the snow around her. She looked almost like she was about to faint just from how sickening those screams were. They had such an oppressive fear behind them, something that made my blood run like freezing water through my veins. I went back to Cassie and wrapped my arms around her

as we kept looking around frantically. both our minds were racing about what could have caused that sound but then i remembered that other cabin that wasn't too far from us the one with the family i managed to convince cassie that we needed to run back to the house but in actuality i just wanted to get over to the other cabin to make sure that family was safe we kept running as fast as we could until finally we reached near that cabin I saw, with all my despair-inducing horror, why they'd made such a tormented display of shrieks. The bile came fast up my throat.

I had to hold myself back from throwing up for this horrific display. My wife also gave way to shrieking, so loud it was that it was actually more irritating for me, but I couldn't blame her. That poor family, that poor, poor family. We quickly moved on, but I couldn't stop thinking about how every single one of them had been torn apart like mincemeat, scattered about and indistinguishable. There was a hand here, a few toes there. Something had shredded them until they were nothing more than a gruesome display of carnage.

We quickly left the scene. When we got back to the house, I quickly decided to call 911. I told them everything about what we'd seen. They said they sent over a squad car to the house. But that wasn't the whole truth that I'd given them. All I told them was about the massacre that happened over at the family home. I didn't tell them about the spherical thing that we'd found in the woods. My wife was still anxiously walking around in circles, checking every window as she went.

I ran out to the car, thinking it would be better if we just left right now. I tried to start in the car, but it just kept sputtering, but had no life. Something was wrong. the car should work, I had given it a full tank of gas. I got out and noticed that there were some bolts and scraps of metal half buried in the snow. When I bent down to look underneath, I saw that the entire fuselage had been torn open. Something had deliberately destroyed the car. I ran back inside, slammed the door shut and locked it.

Went even further to place a chair and wedge the door-knob. Now, I was desperate. We had no car, and there was no way I was planning on walking out there again. All we could do was wait for help. At least I'd been able to make that call on a cell phone because when I went to turn one of the lights on, there was no electricity flowing through. The wires had been cut as well. Whatever had done this, it was smart, and it was targeting us.

Cassie had at this point started breaking down. into tears. She was scared, and I was scared, but I knew that I had to be there for her. Even though our marriage isn't so good right now, there's no way I could leave her in such a vulnerable state. I felt that maybe I should do something to comfort her, but what else could I do? What could either of us do? The only thing we're able to do was wait for assistance. I stretched my hands out to her and pulled her in towards my chest. She didn't even try to fight back but rather she buried herself in this is probably the most affection i've gotten from her in a long time hopefully the police can handle this i wasn't sure if we could make it all night to be honest

every crackling sound from the cabin was enough to get my hair standing up on end nothing seemed to have been damaged so i came to the conclusion that whatever it was didn't come inside well it would seem that we were in for a night of no sleep. The next day there was a knock on our door. I was disturbed from my rest on the couch with my wife next to me. I tried my best to get up without disturbing her and made my way towards the door. But I stopped before I went to open it. Who's there? Police, the voice said, weakly. I took a deep breath and exhaled. Ah, reassuring. I opened the door and I saw that a bloody police office was standing in front of me. He had his hand covering over his abdomen, which was dripping with it. Jeez, what happened to you? He was practically about to stumble

over until I caught him. Wasting no time, I brought him over to the armchair. I knew my wife would not like to wake up to this. Hey, Cassie, wake up, I ordered, panicking. When she opened her eyes and saw who was sitting near her, she just about screamed, but I quickly covered her mouth. Much to her shock until she saw that it was me. Ben, what's going? No time to explain it. I need you to go and get me some water. I cut her off. Well, as much as I hated bossing her around, time was of the essence. I didn't want to say anything to her, but I didn't think this poor fellow was going to last. She quickly got up and ran to the kitchen. First so than I was. I was to would have expected. Perhaps it was just the adrenaline rush. I turned back to the poor guy who was

wheezing and coughing up blood. Hey, pal, listen, I'm going to need you to tell me what happened. Don't worry. I know this looks bad, but I didn't walk the way over here for no reason. I need you to warn the station. What about? I guess he came in with some rags that were soaked and gently pressed them onto his abdomen. He winced loudly, but we'd Both knew this was for the best. Tell them it's a cold protectorate situation. I, me and my partner, went to the house as instructed. When we got there, we both nearly lost our sanity,

and it was gruesome what we saw. I could relate to what he was describing. It was a messed up sight and wished I could unsee it. When we went into the house to investigate, something launched from out of the darkness, got clean through my partner before we could even have time to react I fired eight shots into that thing

oh it was so mortifyingly alien so we're dealing with an alien I don't know if you can count that thing as one oh man it was so savage so brutal naked and abominable

got out of quickly that thing managed to get me in the stomach I fired one more shot near his head and that seemed to scare it away. And then I came here. Both my wife and I were awe-struck. So there really was an alien in our area. And it's killing people. How original.

But my biggest concern at this moment was the fact that we were now caught in the middle of it. The cop coughed a few more times with drips of blood coming down his chin. My wife quickly rushed over with the cloth to try and clean it. out so that he could breathe properly, but he just grabbed hold of her wrist. Through more agitated coffin, he choked. Leave, leave, if you can. And his eyes quickly went lifeless, and he fell limp in the armchair. His hand released my wife, and she quickly backed up into me. I held her in my arms as we both stared at this lifeless man who had given us the only advice I think he could give us. But I had to honour what the fallen cop had asked me, and I got back in touch with the

police to tell them that the cop had died after investigating the murder scene. I gave them his name, and they were ready to send more help until I cut the lady off and told her that he requested protectorate. They cut the line after that, and I had to deal with the questions I had no answers to. But then a new voice asked it. Please evacuate the area. Your area has been labelled by the Protectorate Extermination Committee as a targeted zone. We have less than one hour to comply with this direct order. Well, that wasn't what I was expecting to hear. No sooner after hearing those words, Cassie ran back to the kitchen and started washing

the blood off her hands. I took a blanket and covered the officer, but I was going to heed his words. I went upstairs and quickly started grabbing what I could, throwing it back into our backs. we were leaving and that was not up for any discussion thankfully cassie was on the same page as me once finished with the packing i had the pounding beat of a rotor there was a helicopter flying overhead quickly i went outside and tried to get a good look at it it was a black hawk helicopter flying rapidly well out of desperation i started waving my hands hoping that maybe they'd land and get us out of here much sooner than what my car could manage for us but they flew off. I know they saw me, but they simply ignored me.

Cassie came out of the house and asked, Did they just leave? I heard them flying by and thought they may be land. I don't think they were looking for survivors. They don't look like any military group I recognize. What did they look like? The voice was trembling. I don't know who they are,

but their helicopter was painted black and there was a symbol on the side. It looked like a shield with six wings coming out from the side and an eye in the centre of the shields. We heard the sound of distinctive gunfire off in the distance. Whatever it was, I doubt it was military engagement. There was only one firing, and it was followed by deafening screams of a man, only to be drowned out by something unnaturally low and clicky. But this roar boomed across the land.

That was coming from another cabin not to be. too far from us. Whatever it was, surely we were going to be next in the line of fire for this thing. Must have been going around destroying people's vehicles if there were still people around after what had happened to that first group. I can't imagine all of our neighbours still being here willingly. I ordered Cassie back into the house, knowing full well that something bad was about to go down.

When I saw three more of those blackhorts flying into one single location, I shut the door again and told Cassie to get down as low as she could. I didn't want a stray bullet hitting either of us, but I couldn't help but remain curious to see if they could get it. I was expecting them to rain down machine-grown fire, but instead I saw three huge plumes of fire shoot from each of the choppers. They were trying to burn this thing. They were hitting it hard, too.

The amount of flames coming down at such a rapid speed made me think that it would catch the entire woods on fire. Well, thankfully it's winter, so I don't think a forest fire is likely to. happen but they never stopped firing and it almost seemed as they were chasing after whatever it was my eyesight's not so good so i wasn't able to get a visual of what it was but i saw something running on all fours darting through the woods as the blackhawks chased after it what's happening cassie cried it's momentarily forgotten about her i was expecting bullets but i guess it wasn't so dangerous after all they're trying to burn that sick

monster. Is it working? We didn't have the heart to tell her that I think the thing was getting away. Whatever it was, it was weaving fast enough to where the helicopters couldn't keep up. But at least it seems like it couldn't hurt them, either. They're driving it away. It's moving further away from us. Maybe we could leave right now. Cassie started panicking and started. We're not going out there.

Cassie, don't be stupid. We have to get out of it. here. That creature might come back for all we know. And I don't want to be outside all vulnerable when it gets here. That was always something I'd hated about her. Once she made up her mind on something, there was no way you were going to get her to change her mind. Oh God, it's always about your issues. It's always going to be your way. Don't you realize that there's something that we can't handle, running around willy-nilly. We've got helicopters outside blasting it with fire that doesn't seem to be doing too much. You want us to stay here like a bunch of sitting ducks because you're too scared to try and escape,

like the officer who died for us? You think I want to stay here and get torn apart by that savage? She got up from her hiding place and pushed me as hard as she could. Don't get me wrong, I didn't fall down to the ground. When she gets angry, she's a little extra forceful than you'd expect. She tried doing it a second time, but I caught her arms and threw her back, not hard enough to make her fall. How about you calm down and think?

I shouted back at her. with increased ferocity. I was at my limit, and I was having thoughts of leaving her here. We were on the verge of divorce anyway. Well, maybe the last thing I should care about is someone who will become a stranger to me in no time. I did. I want to hide and not be an open target.

I don't want to sit here like it's an all-you-can-eat buffet for that thing. But before the argument could continue down this heated path, one of those flamers happened to come by, burning everything nearby. Thankfully it didn't hit the house or even the yard for that matter, but it was enough to leave me with a shaking stomach. We both dropped the ground, but I was still curious about what was happening outside. I crawled up to the front window again, my eyes went wide as I saw one of the helicopters

blasting its flamethrower down. Inside the inferno, that creature was walking about untouched by the heat. I whispered to myself, it's immune to the fire. How? The flames eventually stopped raining down. I think they got the idea too. I looked up at them as one of the soldiers was changing their weapon of choice from a flamethrower to something a little more ballistic. Okay, run, I ordered. To the bathroom.

Both of us got up and as we got into the first floor bathroom, the sound of explosions rained down from above. A small-scale explosive were now being used against this alien. It let out another one of those guttural bellows. Apparently this actually heard it more. I could hear the constant firing of bullets raining down now. But this was all I could interpret. As Cassie and I were both huddled in the bathtub, praying to whatever God exists that we don't end up being shredded by bullets in the process.

Already I could hear parts of the house getting hit by stray bullets, as it seemed like the helicopters were moving more erratically as they chased after this creature once again. At least it seems like they were moving away from us, but those were the most intense 30 seconds of my life. And finally, everything fell silent, other than the distant explosions that slowly toned down. Both Cassie and I were breathing heavily.

I even found myself wrapping my arms around her instinctively. Hey, you okay? I asked. She wouldn't quit crying. She never responded to my question. Granted it was a stupid question. Nothing about this was okay. I decided to concede. Perhaps we should just hunker down and hope for the best.

Although I was still completely on board with up and going, Cassie was partially right. We would be caught out there in the open, and there was no guarantee that these people who are fighting the monster are even going to care about civilian casualties. They certainly didn't mind incinerating entire section of the woods away, regardless of whatever houses happen to be nearby okay cassie we'll stay here tonight but i'm using

grandpa's guns i don't care i want that thing dead i'll take one for myself well this was a sudden change of heart someone who's always against this stuff suddenly wants one now i should have known better when i saw her pick up the pistol if you fail i'd much rather be able to take the easy way out of this mass. Honestly, I'd rather have that option as well, but I have to try. Plus, if I was to die today, at least I can go down with this beautiful shotgun in hand. So that's where we are. Black Ops group is currently leveling the area as best they can to try and kill this thing.

My wife's ready to do what she can to avoid a painful way of dying, and I've got a shotgun. Scared out of my mind as I wait for this thing to eventually try and get us as well. And thus begins another long night of no sleep. The clock had now turned to 12.43 p.m. I was dead tired and the exhaustion of staying up for two days without getting any consistent sleep was starting to take its toll. Thankfully the sun had come up and this creature did not attack during the night. I'm telling you that's probably the most luck we're ever going to get out of this. Cassie was getting more sleep than I was, but she refused to leave the bathroom.

She stayed in that tub the entire night, while I made myself a little pillow fort in the living room. Before you start again judgmental over childish behaviour, if I'm going to die, I'm at least going to die in comfort. All throughout the night, I had the occasional bursts of gunfire far off in the distance. Tightened my grip around the shotgun, preparing myself for whenever I'd need it. This particular shotgun was a special type that my grandfather was a bit of a bit of a bit of a shotgun. obsessed over and it packed quite a wallet a browning BPS with sleek black metal its high-powered shotgun is all that stands between us and a ravenous deadly alien that came from outer space and well that and me getting torn apart and so began the

weight hours were going by every moment that I heard them chasing that thing out there was another moment that told me it wasn't over yet I was drenched to in sweat, despite the temperature getting increasingly cold with every passing hour. How we managed to survive this whole time is beyond me. I guess the tension alone was enough to make sure that we stayed warm throughout the whole thing. Then I heard a rumbling sound outside, and I heard multiple rumblings, and suddenly a blast of sound exploded so loud that it shattered all of the glass in the house. I was so scared that I almost fired off a shock. I quickly got up from the pillow thought, Cassie was looking out in the bathroom door. She was as confused as I was.

What are they doing now? When I took a look outside, I had a surge of hope. Outside were eight tanks as black as the blackhawks, and they were firing off at a distance, firing off their machine gun fire at the same time as they tried to destroy whatever the thing was with cannon fire from their turrets. When I peered further out at the patch of woods that were being shredded to pieces by the barrage. I saw that the alien was moving as quickly as it could to avoid them, but he kept stumbling around, and explosives kept burning away layers of its skin. There were more helicopters outside that were trying to flame it as well as firing explosive rockets at it. Well, I was cheering them on. The creature was definitely taking a beating from

the constant attacks, and it was only a matter of time before that thing would get too worn down. and already I could see parts of its flesh burning off. Go on guys, get him! I shouted instinctively at the hype of us actually winning. Maybe I could get out of this alive. From the distance, I had to wear my glasses to get a better view. But my God, the battle was intense. Hey, I think they've nearly killed it, I shouted in early triumph.

Cassie came out of the bathroom and crawled up next to me, wanted to join me and watch as they finally killed the alien. We both watched with anticipation as they finally seem to be destroying its tough outer exterior. Well, the animal looked disgusting. That barbaric creature had two long arms with five fingers that looked about as long as a human forearm, had a triangular-shaped head, rounded around the edges. I distinctly remember seeing it having a bluish-grey skin earlier, but I guess after all the flaming, bullets and bombings,

now it was reduced to a muscular frame. I staggered around after getting hit for over a day's worth of fire, and I was surprised that they were willing to keep pounding this thing so hard that extended amount of time. Suddenly the sky overhead had a long, loud engine noise burst through the sound barrier. We looked up, and my heart sank into what felt like ice-cold water because those were F-22s coming down fast from the sky. I looked over to Cassie who looked like she'd frozen over.

Without much rational thought, I grabbed hold of her, and we both ducked low to the ground. The glass exploded above us as I heard missiles raining down, explosion after explosion, detonating and levelling everything nearby. They were going to keep hitting this thing till it was either ash or the entire area had been left in ashes. Cassie kept crying, but I also felt a huge overwhelming feeling of dread laying on top of me. I hugged her tightly, wanting to give myself some warmth from the otherwise cold, apathetic attack that we found ourselves stuck in. She'd get whispering through choked up words. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Cassie, listen, we're going to be all right. You hear that? We're going to live.

The last explosion was so close to our house that I think part of it was coming apart at that point. The whole house shook violently and Cassie and I were momentarily lifted off the ground by how much power was behind that last explosion. I slowly got back to my feet, my ears ringing exceedingly loud. I could barely hear whatever Cassie was saying to me. I still had the shotgun in hand, and I was clutching that thing as if my life depended on it. Everything was a blurry mess. I was so dizzy I couldn't even focus entirely on anything. Cassie was trying to tell me something

She kept pointing around me Her face full of fear Finally Things were going back to normal quickly And I was able to understand what she was trying to say It's coming this way My eyes widened And as I turned around

The entire wall exploded inwards I found myself being tossed over the couch And Cassie was quick to try and crawl back to the bathroom I think she left her pistol there. When I got a good look at it, I realized it was at death's door. It was all bloody, muscular, and one of his eyes had come out. This blood-filled shrill escaping from its mouth that made your skin curl in itself. Frankly, it sounded like no animal on earth. Bullets started raining in, a little too close for comfort for me. I had to make a decision. The thing was eye,

down my wife she turned around towards me her eyes filled with tears without much hesitation I pumped the shotgun and unloaded an entire blast into its chest while it was distracted it screamed out in a horrific shrill probably more stunned that a simple firearms enough to finally get this thing injured at this point I kept blasting pumping and repeatedly doing this while screaming as I kept shooting that sick animal it swine swung its broken fingers at me, cutting a bit of my leg in the process. I fell down for a moment, but I knew I had to get back out for Cassie.

Well, it didn't do so well when I was finally able to get close enough to it to point the double barrel right at its head and blast straight into its mouth. Strangely enough, that wasn't even enough to kill it. It fell back, squowing around in writhing pain, and I was shocked when I saw Cassie come out with her pistol and unload eight bullets into the creature as well. I joined her in the attack, and we kept shooting at it until it finally stopped moving.

We were both out of breath, completely in shock and frankly just wanting to go home, maybe even see a therapist. I rested on the floor next to Cassie, who had lost her strength as well. We were just too tired to even run, and I had no intention of getting out on my own. Through the smoke,

Four soldiers in full body-armoured gear, painted black, entered through the gaping hole in the wall. I was so tired, I was sure I'd lose consciousness. And sure enough, everything faded to blent. I could briefly hear the chatter of radios, but what they said I could not remember. When I woke up, I was sitting in a hospital bed. I looked around in frantic movements, wondering where Cassie was. Where was my wife? I saw her completely passed out in the bed next to me.

I was so relieved to see her safe and sound. When I looked around, I saw that we were in a military infirmary tent. It was still snowing outside, but thankfully these tents know how to keep you warm. As I was about to get comfortable in my bed, two guys in suits, not black suits, thankfully, they weren't going to be so cliche, walked in with two guards in uniform behind them. The man who appeared oldest, complete with a bull. bald head and a big, bushy grey moustache, said, "'Good morning, soldier!'

I chuckled a little bit. Soldier, I wouldn't say I'm a soldier. He had a charming enough laugh that I could tell you he was more of a ladies' man in his spare time when he wasn't working to be some high-up government official. Ah, but weren't you the one who managed to kill the extraterrestrial? Clearly he knew what I'd done, so there was no point in lying. Yes, sir.

That makes you a soldier, I guess. You may be just a civilian, but anyone who has the gust to take on something that took tanks and blackhawks an entire day's worth of fighting to kill is deserving of such a title. I'm honored, I responded with unease. Well, I feel it's the least we can do, considering that even though we did most of the work, the fact that you managed to kill that thing with a shotgun and revolver is my definition of bravery. so we'll be needing you to do a few favours for us in return for some added benefits for your heroism today i was well versed in this kind of stuff you watch enough movies read enough books you learn a little bit about what they're going to tell you next of course i had to sign the documentation that neither of us would ever talk about what we'd seen today we were to never acknowledge any information that was related to what had happened today and we were to tell anyone we came across that we had a lovely second honeymoon trying to rekindle our marriage. But in return, I did get some financial help from these guys. They gave us a reward of $100,000 each.

Although I'd like for more, I'm not going to pester them with that feeling. Beggars can be choosers right. Although, after all of that happened, Cassie and I did manage to recover our marriage somewhat for the time being. What happened that day wasn't going to save it, though. And in 2018 we decided to go our separate ways. And we still get together occasionally to talk about what happened on that fateful winter day in 2012. She said that she still has nightmares of that thing chasing after her.

I don't suffer from nightmares of that thing, but I can understand where she's coming from. Well, the recent events have changed that. After everything that happened and now that I've been a single man for quite some time now, I recently became more interested in what's going on above us. I started collecting information about aliens, thinking that they were nothing more than little grey men and the occasional giant monster creature. Well, how I was wrong.

I was extraordinarily wrong about what was really going on in the stars. But I suppose that isn't relative to this story. Despite all of the horror that I experienced, the horrors I experienced now even, well I think it's time just to sign off on this message and so I'll go back

to another night of no sleep and so once again we reach the end of tonight's podcast my thanks as always to the authors of those wonderful stories and to you for taking the time to listen now I'd ask one small favour of you wherever you get your podcast wrong

please write a few nice words and leave a five-star review as it really helps the podcast. That's it for this week, but I'll be back again same time, same place, and I do so hope you'll join me once more. Until next time, sweet dreams and bye-bye.